Crawling in the Dark
by WinterD
Summary: Part Two to the Weathered Series. There' s a wolf stalking the SG, but who is it? And what does it want?
1. Signs

Title: Crawling in the Dark 

Rated: PG-13

Summary: Second Part of the Weathered Series.  There's a wolf stalking the SG, but who is it?  And what does it want?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.  Joss, UPN, and WB own everything.  Please don't sue me.

Special Thanks: Once again, to my lovely and talented Beta readers, Haley, Jennifer, and Karen.  They really help me out a lot and deserve a big thank you from everyone.

AN: Well, I've done the action/adventure with Weathered, and a light hearted comedy with Murphy's Law, but now things are about to get a little bit darker and with more angst, at least in my opinion. Like the other two, I didn't quite mean to do that, but that is how it happened.  Still, I hope you enjoy.

***********

_Part 1: Signs _

_She walked through the deserted street, the cool morning air blowing up the thin skirt she had on as she pushed a stray blond hair out of her face.  The town was so still, so unnaturally still. It was starting to give her the creeps, even though the bright morning sun shone down on her.  The warm glow was sure to chase all the nasties away.  But something dark was following her, tracking her, even if she couldn't find it._

_On the steps in front of the Magic Box sat a little girl with hair that looked as if it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a light brown or a dark blond.  The long curly mat that was her hair was pulled into two pig tails that hung low behind her ears and rested on her little shoulders. She didn't look as if she were over four-years-old, and was just quietly bouncing a ball up and down.  _

_Buffy came and sat beside the child who barely even noticed her presence._

_"Hi," the slayer said watching the ball come up again and land in the girl's hands. "What'chya doing?"_

_"Waiting for my daddy," she told her still focusing in on her ball.  "He had to go out for awhile and told me to wait here."_

_"What about your Mommy?  Where's she?"_

_The little girl caught the ball in her hand and looked over at the slayer.  Her little face was so sad, it almost made Buffy want to cry for her._

_"She didn't listen," the child said sadly.  "I told her, but she wouldn't listen to me."_

_"Told her what?"_

_"To beware the wolf," she said as she continued to bounce the ball.  "But she didn't listen."_

_Buffy felt her eyes grow wide.  It couldn't be._

_"Dylan?" she asked softly._

_The girl looked up at her again and she recognized those bright, blue eyes.  Before she could react to what she was looking at, the child screamed, "Look out!"_

_Buffy turned just in time to see a large mouth of teeth launching at her._

The blonde sat up straight in her bed, a thin layer of sweat covering her body with her heart pounding in her chest.  What was that?

From the crib that they had set up under the windows that she used to sneak in and out, Dylan was standing up, holding onto the railing, bawling.  Her little face was red and sticky from tears as she waited for her mother to come comfort her and make everything alright again.  Buffy lifted the child into her arms; her little yellow fleece body pajamas warm in her embrace as she swayed the toddler back in forth.

"It's okay," she told her rocking the child.  "It was just a dream, nothing else."

To be honest, she didn't know who she was trying to calm down more, her daughter or herself.

Ever since Thanksgiving, the dreams had become worse and worse.  They were always the same; she would be somewhere in town, see the same little girl but at different ages, and she would give her the same warning, 'beware the wolf.'  

At first, Buffy didn't know who the child was, but she did now.  The still whimpering baby in her arms was trying to tell her something, but wasn't quite sure what.  The fact that she said that she didn't listen to her tonight really put the slayer on edge.  

Did that mean that it was too late already?  She just wished she knew.

**********

The house was dark. They were all asleep and safe in their beds, but he still kept his post under the old tree out front.  He would stay there until the first rays of light would start to brighten the sky and chase him and the shadows away, but he would stay right there until then.

How many nights had he stayed under that tree, watching that window in hopes of catching a glimpse of her without Solider Boy?  He had lost count from before. 

He did remember the last night plainly, the night that he had shown her that her white knight had a few kinks in his armor.  The night he had a moment to compare what her real nude body looked like as compared to the one he fantasized about – they were strikingly similar.  The night before both their lives were turned completely upside down and inside out.  

It struck him how differently their lives could have been had he not kept watch that night had he not dragged her out of her dream world and into the harsh reality that her commando boyfriend lived in.  Would he be standing there, watching the room where both she and their daughter slept?  Spike snorted.  Probably bloody well not.

Unlike when he watched out of obsession, he had to watch now to keep his own sanity in check.  They had been together for so long, just the three of them, and he knew they were both safe because he was always nearby in case something should happen.  

The only time he had left, he had because he felt it was for the best.  He worried constantly for the three months he was in Africa.  Even during those deadly, gruesome trials, it was the thought of getting back to them that had kept him from giving up.  When he had to recover and that blasted guilt was driving him insane, the thought of them being unprotected without him around was what finally forced him to stop feeling sorry for himself and haul his ass back to Madrid. He had nearly lost them that night; he was sure as hell not going to let it happen again.  If that meant standing out there, under that window, and watching for the rest of his unnatural life, then so be it.

A faint sound floated from the house causing Spike to straighten up a little.  He would know that sound anywhere.  It was Dylan and she was crying, again.

In a move he had perfected over the months, he was able to climb the tree and position himself to where Buffy couldn't see him before the slayer even had a chance to turn on the lights.  Dylan was standing there in her crib, screaming like a banshee until her mother came and lifted her into the safety of her arms.  The slayer herself didn't look much better than the child.  She looked worn and tired and scared, but of what he didn't know.  He couldn't know because he wasn't there with them, like he should be.

Spike stayed there, trying to will any comfort to them, until Rupert arrived shortly before the sun would have risen.  The vampire felt a pang of jealousy towards the Watcher because he was the one the slayer still turned too, but he also felt better because he was there and perhaps able to help her.  Reluctantly, but because he didn't want to spontaneously combust, he slipped out of the yard and headed home.

He hadn't gotten very far when a familiar sensation started to prick at his mind.  Stopping in his tracks, he glanced over his shoulder and directly at the shadow he knew she was hiding in.

"Hello, Dru," he said rather evenly, keeping his back to the vampiress.

The raven hair beauty emerged from her hiding spot, her black dress flowing around her white body as her insane grin never wavered on her lips.  When she looked like this with her lily skin glowing in the moonlight and that childlike innocence to her there would hardly a man alive that would turn down whatever it was this creature was offering.  A hundred and twenty-two years ago, he hadn't, but he would tonight if she offered.  Somehow, he doubted she would.

"Miss Edith told me a man stole my Spike's body, but I did not believe her.  Had I, then maybe I wouldn't have punished her so badly."

The bleach blond turned to face her fully.  So, she knew about the soul.  Still doesn't explain why she's here.

"What do you want, Dru?"

She took a step to him, seemingly amazed by him.  "You sound so much like him, but the bugs ate my Spike away and left you in his place."

She reached up to touch his face, but he took her hands away before her skin made contact with his.  "Dru."

His sire frowned at his dismissal of her fascination.  "You see!  He would never hurt his Mummy like you."

Spike sighed at her.  "You're right, he wouldn't have.  But you're talkin' to me now, pet.  What do you want?"

She jerked away from him, then turned her attention upwards to the starless night.  "Did he tell you?  The stars, they sing to me, tell me stories.  They told me one about an angel the other day."

Angel?!

"Dru, did you see Dylan?"

"I saw death," she laughed playfully, clapping her hands together.  "Death and darkness.  But they did not play well together.  Death kept cheating darkness."

"Drusilla," he practically hissed.

She blinked blankly at him, then held her hands up as she closed her eyes.  "Shhhh.  Don't you hear it?  Don't you hear the wolf cry?"

He grabbed her by the shoulders, barely keeping the demon down, though he knew she wouldn't mind.  God, how did she ever not infuriate him with her cryptic messages before?  "Drusilla, what is going on?"

"The fates are coming to play. They say it's time to pay," she told him, almost seriously. She then pouted, "But they don't want me to play with them.  They say that my part is done.  Tell them I can play."

Spike dropped his shoulders and turned away from her gaze.  He wasn't as good at translating what she was telling him like he used to be, but he knew what she was telling him was bad.

"Better listen to what they have to say," Spike sighed after a moment.

She gave him a large pair of puppy dog eyes that he was sure he would be seeing more when Dylan got older, then said, "I wish you were still him.  We created such beautiful darkness."

"But I'm not, love," he told her.  She gave him one last sigh, then turned to walk way.  Before she got too far, he called to her, "Dru."  She paused and looked back at him.  "Don't ever come back."

"The slayer shouldn't worry.  I'm gone from everything now," she told him before disappearing into the shadows.

**********

Steven sat on the balcony, staring out over the city below him.  In his world, there was no place like this, only plenty of room for a boy to run and feel free.  Here, everything was loud, crowded, and mostly, made him feel like he was trapped in a prison he could not escape from.  There were rules here, a society that he did not understand nor wanted to.  He missed his home and wished desperately that he was there.

After Justine had murdered his father, the boy had discovered some nasty truths that had been kept from him his whole life.  Everything the teen had ever been taught was called into question, including his sense of right and wrong and who he really was.  He knew he had been born of two vampires, but, after seeing Angel - his real father - fight all these months, Steven could not say without a doubt that he thought that all vampires or demons were evil and that men were all good.  Both his fathers had proven the opposite could be true.

"Hey," a woman said walking outside to join him.  "I thought I might find you here."

Cordy smiled warmly at the boy as she pulled her jacket a little tighter around her body.  The late December nights were bitterly cold for LA, but he didn't seem to notice that much.

He didn't know why, but he liked Cordelia.  Maybe it was the fact that she was always nice to him and treated him like a normal person instead of 'Angel's son' like so many others seemed to do.  She understood what it meant to be different, thanks to the demon that was now inside of her, and he was grateful to have someone who had stood on both sides of the fence.

"Did Angel send you to check on me?" he asked, never taking his eyes off the city.

She drew in a deep breath before she came over and leaned on the balcony that he was sitting on.  "No.  As far as he knows, I'm still manning the phones downstairs and you're still in your room.  Guess it proves that he doesn't know everything like he thinks he does."

Steven bit the inside of his mouth to kill a smile that threatened to come.  Angel was the type of person who thought he knew what was best for everyone, not that the boy was any different.  It did, however, provide for some very interesting 'discussions' that usually involved yelling and the breaking of objects.

"You know," she continued after a moment of silence, "when you were a baby, I used to bring you out here whenever I couldn't get you to calm down and Angel wasn't around to vamp out for you.  You loved it out here.   Guess you still do."

"I can think here," he explained simply.

"About what?"

The boy looked over at the slightly older woman who had an eyebrow raised.  "Stuff," he said.

She couldn't hold back a snort.  "You're more like your father then you-ugh."

Steven jerked his head over to see what the matter was and found the woman holding her head as the vision came.  He had only seen her do this a few times since coming to stay with Angel, but it still freaked him out.

"Cordy?" the boy said softly.  "Cordelia?  Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she told him carefully, trying to pay attention to what she was seeing.  The seer then straighten up, turned to the boy, and said plainly, "Connor, we need to go talk to your father."

The boy knew that tone; it was the same one that his father had always used when trouble was on the way.  Reflexively, he drew in his bottom lip to bite down on it, a bad habit that he had picked up as a child.

"Something's coming, isn't it?" he said.

"No," she said sadly shaking her head.  "It's already here."

**********

Joyce poured the hot liquid into the cup and handed it over to the middle-aged man that sat at the counter with her weary looking daughter.  The sun would be up soon, and none of them had planned on starting the day this early.  But a slayer dream and a screaming baby had proven otherwise for them.

Dawn was the only one who had been able to sleep through Dylan's screaming fit.  Joyce wasn't sure how the teen had been able to do it. After all, her room was further down the hall than the teen's, but Dawn had always been a sound sleeper.  Her mother-in-law used to say that the girl could sleep through a tornado or a hurricane had either one of them ever struck California.

Rupert adjusted his glasses before taking the cup. He took a long sip from it, then turned back to her child.  "How long have the dreams been going on?"

Buffy shrugged as she ran her finger along the rim of the coffee cup.  The poor girl's eyes were dark from lack of sleep, and Joyce couldn't help but wonder how long she could keep up taking care of Dylan, going to school, slaying, and getting absolutely no rest.  She would have to remember to speak to Spike about maybe helping out a little more.

"Ever since about May," she told the coffee cup.  "They've become more regular since Thanksgiving."

The Watcher sighed deeply.  Seven months and she was just now telling them about it?

"There's more," she went on quietly.  "I-I think that…"  Her voice died in her throat before she finished.

"What, Honey?" Joyce pressed softly as only she could do.

"I think that I'm…sharing the dreams."  She added quickly.  "With Dylan."

"Are you sure?" Rupert asked quickly.

"It's her in my dreams, Giles.  It took me awhile to figure it out, but I know it is.  She's trying to warn me about something, but I don't know what she's talking about.  And then she's always crying when I wake up." She snorted at the last thought.  "Actually, it's more like bawling her little eyes out.  You can ask Mom, she heard her this morning."

Joyce paused for a moment.  She had heard Dylan this morning, and there had been more and more nights where the child had woken her up screaming.  The older blonde woman had never been able to figure out why a child who always seemed so content and happy would cry like that at night. But, if she were sharing Buffy's dreams, then it did explain it.

"She has been rather upset at night lately," her mother offered, not going as far as to agree with her daughter, but not ruling it out either. 

Giles looked from one woman to another before pulling his glasses off and beginning to clean them.  "I suppose if Dylan really is this 'dark angel' like that Becket fellow thought she was, then it could be possible.  The problem is she is still only speaking in short sentences and cannot tell us out right if it is true or not.  Maybe if she were older-"

"But she's not," Buffy told him.  "So we'll just have to go with my instinct here."

"Which is?" Spike asked.

All three of them turned and found the bleach blond leaning in the open back doorway.  His arms were crossed as he stared at Buffy, and Joyce noticed how her daughter seemed to relax slightly with him being there.

"What are you doing here?" the tiny blonde asked.

"Ran into Dru a minute ago," he told her.  "Said something bad was goin' on, but I guess you already know that."

"Great, Drusilla, just what we don't need," Buffy sighed deeply, turning her attention back to the coffee cup.

"Don't think we'll be worrin' about her, love.  Whatever it is, it's pretty much told her to stay out of it.  She was headin' out of town when she left me. So, what's your slayer instinct sayin' we should do here?"

"Major research party for anything that might be going down in the next couple of days with a good, old-fashion shake down at Willy's to see who might be causing trouble in Sunnyd.  You and me can check it out tonight after sunset."

Giles nodded his head in agreement and was mentally preparing himself for a long Saturday at 'Scooby Central.'

**********

Tara sat in the large chair she had moved into the dorm room, her legs curled up to her body as she watched the young red head sleep in the bed.  It had been nearly a week since Thanksgiving and the young witch seemed to be handling the adjustment back to the real world rather well, or as well as could be expected.  She didn't smile nearly as often as she had before, nor did she display as much confidence, but she was trying to get back to normal.  

Tara just didn't know what to do.  It was Willow. There was no doubt about it, but she was different.  She was…darker.  Yeah, that was a good word for it.  Her moods were darker, her clothes were darker, even her eyes somehow seemed darker.  But that should be expected, she supposed.  After all, she did just get back from the Shadow World.

That was another mystery in itself.  The witch had never gone into detail of how she had returned from the place.  She just left the Scoobies to guess.  Giles had tired to pry into it, but Willow had quickly shut out the questions by leaving the room complaining she was tired and didn't want to talk about it.  They had agreed that she just needed time, but she needed to speak to someone about it soon.  Tara didn't care if it was with her or not, just someone.

Willow's small body stirred in the large bed.  She was grunting lowly to herself when the nightmares came on yet again.  Tara wished there was something she could do to help her.  It was true that she could use magic to make her forget, to help her to become her old self again, but she wouldn't do that.  Magic was never the way when it came to such problems; and, if one did use it in that manner, it was highly addictive.  The young witch had seen others fall into it like that, and there was nothing sadder than to see a magic junkie looking for the next fix.

"No, please," Willow whimpered lowly into the pillow as she slept.  "Please, leave me alone."

Tara stood from the large chair, the silk robe that Dawn had given her for a Christmas present last year falling around her body.  She bent down next to the restless sleeper, reached out to offer comfort, but kept her hand just barely away from her face.

"No, don't," Willow said as the shut eyes began to have slits of water glisten at their ends.

"Willow," Tara said softly gently shaking her shoulder.

"No," the woman muttered again, not waking from the contact.

"Willow," she said again.

"No, no, no, no," she repeated starting to jerk forcefully.  Tara sat up, unsure what she should do as Willow began to cry.  There was something building around the red head, but she didn't know what.  "NO!!" she screamed, her body lifting upward from the bed.

The room seemed to explode from some kind of energy that lifted the blonde up off the bed and tossed her to the ground.  Pictures and books were knocked over, and the glass vase that held the Japanese Fighting fish shattered, spilling the water all over the desk.

Willow fell limply back onto the bed with a thud, then moaned as she slowly regained consciousness.  Tara lifted herself up off the ground and Willow began to look around the room as confused as she had been the night she wondered into Buffy's yard.  This was not good.

"Tara?" she asked weakly.

The blonde scrambled across the soft bed, scooped the still shaking red head into her arms, and began to rock her tiny body back and forth.  "It's okay," she whispered holding her.  

But she knew it was anything but okay.  Somehow, Willow had tapped into something unconsciously that she wasn't supposed to.  It may be just a residual effect from being stuck in the Shadow World; after all, no one knew anything about that place because no one has ever returned from it, but Tara wasn't sure.  This was all just too…strange.

"It's okay," she said again, kissing the top of her head, trying to reassure herself of the same thing.

**********


	2. Hello Again

_Part 2: Hello Again_

Dawn yawned widely as she hit the lights and headed back towards her room in a groggy state.  She hated early morning bathroom calls, especially when that early morning happened to be on Saturday.  Saturday was supposed to be her sleep until noon, get up, have lunch, take a nap before going out and meeting her friends at the Bronze day, not get up at the crack of dawn day.  She silently cursed whoever had come up with the Big Gulp idea.

"Seven months, Slayer?" the teen heard a familiar British voice drift up the stairs.  "Why didn't you tell me?  Why didn't you tell any of us?!"

The brown-haired girl quietly moved down the stairs, careful to avoid the parts she knew would squeak.  She bent down low to peer through the railing and into the living room.  Standing there in front of the couch was her sister and the bleach blond blood-sucker, as Xander called him.  Spike had his back to the teen, but Dawn could tell he was upset at her dorky sister over something.  Buffy had her arms crossed as she gave him an annoyed look.

"And what was I supposed to say? 'Oh, by the way, while we're surprising everyone with news about my return, Spike being souled, Dylan, and Willow's return, I just want to add that I might be having slayer dreams about a wolf.'  I thought we had enough to deal with at the moment, thank you very much."

Slayer dreams?!  File that under things Dawn really didn't want to hear.

He sighed at her sarcastic tone. "What, love?  Did you just think that if you ignored it long enough it'd go away?  You know as well as I do that's not goin' to happen.  Not if they really are slayer dreams."

She watched her sister's annoyance melt away to an almost pleading, childlike look.  The teen hadn't seen her sister look that vulnerable since…well, since ever.  Even when she was depressed over their parents' split-up, or when Angel was causing her so much pain, Buffy never allowed anyone to see her vulnerable.  She was supposed to be the rock for everyone else to stand on, and vulnerability showed weakness.  Yet, from her perch on the stairs, Dawn could easily see her sister letting whatever barriers she had up crumble in front of him.  The teen didn't think anyone could ever get Buffy to do that.

"I know," her sister sighed in response.  "I just thought that…I don't know what I thought.  I mean, I haven't had an official slayer dream since-well, Angel."

Dawn heard Spike let out a deep breath.  Though she still couldn't see his face, she knew his anger at her sister was dying as fast as her sister's annoyance with him.  His shoulders relaxed before her glanced down at the ground, then looked back up at Buffy.

"It scares me, Spike," she continued.  "It really scares me to think Dylan's having slayer dreams with me.  I mean, they're hard enough on me.  I can't imagine how scary they must be for her."

"Yeah, I know love," he said as he reached over and pulled her into a hug.

Dawn's eyes were wide. Oh man!  She knew it!  She knew there had to be more going on between them than the whole 'we're just friends' thing they'd been pedaling.  The teen couldn't hold back the very large smile that surfaced on her face, and was barely able to keep a very girlish, teenage squeal from escaping her mouth.

He was ever so slowly rocking the slayer as Buffy laid her head against his chest and said, "It's just so-Dawn!!"

The teen jerked in surprise from being caught, which caused her to lose her footing.  Her body twisted as she fell down the stairs butt first and hit every one of them on the way down.  She landed with a loud thud on the foyer floor.  Her back side was throbbing while she laid there on the ground, looking straight up at the ceiling, and then two worried adult faces.

"Dawn," Buffy called.

"You alright, Niblet?"

"Good heavens," Giles said coming in through the dining room with Joyce.  He helped Spike lift the girl to her feet, then asked, "What happened?"

Buffy smirked at her sister before crossing her arms and saying, "Oh, Dawn was just demonstrating her catlike agility."

Giles ignored the comment for the moment and kept his attention on the teen.  "Are you hurt?"

"Only my pride," she answered, wincing in pain.  "And my butt."

"Serves you right for spying," Buffy said childishly.

"I wasn't spying!  I was…listening without being noticed."

Buffy rolled her eyes as the others adults gave light groans.  Some things would never change.

"Yes, well, if you're sure you're alright, Dawn, then I guess I best be on my way," Giles said, giving the girl the once over before heading for the door.  "It's nearly time to open, and there are several books I need to retrieve from my home before we meet at the shop."

"Yeah, I better get goin' myself," Spike agreed.  "Overcast provides some protection, but no tellin' when it's goin' to clear up."

Dawn studied her sister reaction carefully.  Buffy gave a barely noticeable sigh, and then said, "Right, sun plus vampire equals very bad thing."

Spike smiled at the simple way she put it.  "Yeah, love.  So, I'll get to the Magic Box later today."

"Okay," she smiled back before he headed for the door with the still apparently oblivious Giles.  After they left, the slayer watched the closed door for a few moments, then turned to her mother and sister.  Joyce looked confused about something while Dawn just flashed a knowing smile.  "What?"

"Nothing," Dawn beamed.  Oh, yeah.  She so digs him.

Buffy gave her a strange look, then charged back up stairs, muttering something about getting ready.

"Did I…miss something?" Joyce asked her youngest daughter.

The brown-haired girl couldn't take it anymore.  She gave her teenage squeal, then relayed everything she had seen to her mother.

**********

Buffy wiped the steam from the mirror and stared at the reflection in it.  She was going to be meeting the others at the Magic Box in less than an hour, but she really didn't feel like going.  What she really wanted to do was to go back and hide in her bed with Dylan until this was all over.  

Everything had just started to go right in her life.  She had gone back to school and was actually doing well, her family and friends were being extremely supportive with her and Dylan, she had her own money for the first time in life, and there had been no major disasters or apocalypses since they arrived back in town. There hadn't been the slightest sign of a Big Bad.  But now there was and she was terrified.

If it had only been her, she would have never given it a second thought.  That was what she did, who she was, the Slayer, hunter of the baddies and defender of the good.  Now, however, it wasn't just her.  She had Dylan to think of, and her daughter getting hurt because of something like this scared her more than the Master or Glory or even Angelus ever could.

Buffy knew if anything ever happened to her that Dylan would be well taken care of.  There would always be someone for her, whether it be Dawn or her mother or Giles or one of the guys.

Of course, they would all have to come after Spike.  He swore to her once that he would never leave Dylan, and she was going to hold him to his word, even if she had to do it from beyond the grave. 

She sighed at the thought of the bleach blond.  Buffy didn't how she felt about him anymore.  It was so simple before; he hated her, she hated him, and they were happy that way.  Now things were different, and she didn't know how they got that way.  

Thanksgiving had been the first time she really knew something had changed between them.  First there was the kiss, that sweet kiss they had shared on the front porch.  Even now, a week later, she still blushed when she thought about it.  She found herself wishing that they would share more like that, but then came the memories of the fight.

Buffy wished she could tell him.  They didn't hold back secrets before, and she felt bad that she had to now.  She knew she wasn't alone in the knowledge about her baby sister, that she could always go and talk to Joyce or Giles about it, but she wanted to be able to talk to him about it.  Spike always understood better than anyone she had known before.

She sighed again, then turned away from the reflection and began to get dressed.  She wouldn't let herself think about this. Everything would be fine, just like always.  She didn't know how, but it would be.

The slayer turned off the bathroom light and headed back into her own room to find Dylan was still asleep in her crib.  The child had finally gotten back to sleep soon after their dream, and now was sleeping like a rock.  When the girl wanted to, she could sleep as soundly as anyone Buffy had ever met before.  Must get from Dawn, or maybe Spike.

Buffy looked out the twin windows above the crib.  Over head, the sky had a thick layer of gray clouds cover up the blue, looking every bit the part of a winter's day.  Normally, she didn't like it when the weather was like this, but she could use this to her advantage.  The weather man had said it was supposed to stay like this all day and she hoped she would be able to get Spike out this afternoon so they could go pay Willy the Snitch an early visit.  No harm in asking at least.  Besides, the sooner they had information, the better she would feel.

"Come on, baby," Buffy said, reaching down into the crib and picking the sleepy toddler up.  "Let's go see your Daddy before we go meet Grandpa Giles and the others."

"No, sweep," Dylan protested.  She was starting to put together small sentences now, a major accomplishment for any child, but her mother found herself really wishing that the child could form larger ones to tell them what was happening.  That is, if the child knew herself.

Dylan was fussy for as long as Buffy was dressing her, but, once her clothes were changed, the child's demeanor did a one eighty and now she was ready to go anywhere her mother was willing to take her.

When Buffy finished, the now energetic child held her tiny arms up and said, "Swayer, up."

Her mother dropped her shoulders before doing as the child asked.  "It's Mommy, Dylan," she told her grabbing the blue jean baby bag and heading downstairs.

The child gave her mother a smirk that looked far too much like her father's, and Buffy knew for a fact that the girl was calling her that because she didn't like it.  She was so Spike's daughter.

Buffy shook her head as she reached the bottom of the stairs, then called back up them, "Dawn, we're leaving."

"Just a minute!" the teen called back and she could hear the shuffling coming from her sister's room.

That's great.  A minute in teenage time meant at least another ten in regular.

"You have exactly one minute then I'm going with or without you," Buffy said loudly.

The slayer wandered into the living room to wait, when Joyce walked in from the kitchen, nursing a fresh cup of coffee.  "Are you sure you don't want me to watch her for the day?  A baby can be awful distracting if you're trying to do research."

Buffy gave her mother a weary smile.  Usually, she did let Dylan stay with her mother when she had official Scooby business to attend to, but she didn't want the child out of her sight today for some reason.  She pushed the child a little higher up in her arms, then said, "It's okay. Anya's got the pen set up in the store already for Jessie, and she'll be there, so they should keep each other busy."

Joyce nodded, seemingly understanding more than Buffy thought.  "Alright, dear.  But I'll be here if you change your mind."

"I'm ready," Dawn said, charging down the stairs, straightening out a purple crushed velvet shirt.

"Well, I'm glad you finally decided to join us," Buffy answered sarcastically joining her sister near the front door.  "Come on.  We've got to stop by Spike's place first."

She came close to saying his crypt, but stopped just short.  He didn't live in the old place anymore, and that seemed beyond strange to her.  The bleach blond had actually rented an apartment soon after they had moved back saying that he didn't want Dylan running around an old cemetery when she came to see her da'.  Buffy didn't disagree with the decision, she didn't want Dylan in a cemetery any more then he did, but she did kind of miss the place.  She missed the candles being lit and the glow they gave the place.  Not that she would _ever admit to that in a millions years, but still, it was a good place to hide out when they needed it._

He had let some demon buddy of his named Clem move into the place.  Clem was a good guy, once you got past the floppy skin and kitty eating thing, and said he would let them hide out or crash there whenever they liked.  That would never happen, but it was good to know for just-in-case emergencies.

"Okay," Dawn said with a sly smile as Buffy fastened Dylan into the stroller.  "And since we're going that way, can we stop by McDonald's for a Quarter Pounder?"

Buffy rolled her eyes at her sister as she went towards the door.  She had just seen that girl scarf down two eggs and a thing of bacon and she was sure that Xander would have made one of his donut runs by the time they got there, and she still wanted to stop by McDonalds for more?  

"You are such a porker, Dawn," she sighed.

"Am not!" the teen yelled, horrified that her sister would even suggest such a thing.

"Are too," Buffy smirked as she pulled on her jacket. 

"Am not."

The two girls fell silent as the slayer stood there with the door open in her hand, both staring straight ahead at the person in front of them.  Buffy felt her mouth go dry as she watched him shift nervously on his feet.

"Hello, Buffy," Angel said.

**********

Anya frowned as she watched Willow grab a bottle of black sand off the shelf and placed it with the other items that she and Tara had collected for the protection spell for the Magic Box.  Didn't they know that black sand wasn't cheap?  It had to be special ordered all the way from the lower planes of India where one little old man knew where to find it.  And he didn't get it often!

But did Giles care?  Nooooo.  'Oh, no, Anya, don't charge them.  This is important.  I don't care if I go broke and die penniless in the street while you and your family starve because I give my friends special discounts.'  After working for the man for so long, the young woman had finally just decided that he knew nothing of how to be a good business man.

When the two witches had gathered their supplies and headed out the back door to begin, the bell over the front door rang out brightly, lifting Anya's spirits with thought of a customer.  She watched the sandy blond-haired man as he browsed around, carefully inspecting one item after another.  When she felt this had gone on long enough, she came around the counter, planted that large smile she saved for when she felt a big sale coming on her face, and joined the man in the showplace.

"Can I help you?" she asked politely though her large smile.  She had learned that people tend to buy more when you seem like you really want to help them and are nice. 

The young man returned the smile and he picked up a package of troll wood moss.  _Oh, good, __that stuff is nice and expensive too, she thought._

"Ah, yeah," he said tossing the little baggy back onto the counter.  "I'm looking for a book, _Magicus__ de Praeteritum Tempus."_

"Oh, yes, I do believe we have a copy of it," she told him leading him over to the counter before ducking behind it quickly.

He leaned against the counter as she began to dig around on the lower shelf where Giles had stashed the more expensive books.  While she looked for the one he requested, the young man glanced over to the area under the loft that she had converted into a play area for Jessie so she wouldn't have to leave her at home.  The eight-month-old was sitting there in the middle, quietly chewing on a stuffed ret'yama demon that her Uncle D'Hoffryn had sent her.  He made a face at the disgusting looking creature she was playing with, as her mother found the book and slammed it on the counter.

"This book has all sorts of protection spells in it, and all the ingredients that you will need are sold right here in the store," she said brightly.  He began to flip through the old, leather bound edition, silently making mental notes of pages.  "There is one spell in there I highly recommend.  The ingredients cost a little more, but you can't beat its results.  I used it on my home.  I could go ahead and gather them up if you like."

"Hum?" he said, having stopped listening to her some time back.  "Ah, yeah, that sounds good."

She knew it!  This guy was going to be a good sale.

The ex-demon came back around the counter and into the main area they had just been in a few moments before.  When she was gathering the ingredients, he called to her, "Is it true that there is a spell in here to strip a person of their powers?"

"Strip a person of their powers?"

"You know, make them normal, like us."

Anya shrugged.  "Yes, I believe there is one, but it is highly dangerous, even for the most experienced person."  She picked up the last of the ingredients and headed back around the counter.  "Why?"

He shrugged.  "Just curious is all."  

The little blond woman began to ring him up, knowing the sale was going to be at least two hundred dollars, happy that she would make some money today.  The man, however, just kept looking over at Jessie, who was watching her mother work.

"That your kid?" he asked, nudging his head towards the baby.

"Oh, yes," Anya said placing his things inside a bag.  "That's my little precious Jessica Diamond.  That will be two hundred and fifteen dollars."

"Jessica Diamond?" he asked with a raised eyebrow counting out his cash.

She took the wad of green bills and counted them out again to be sure he had given her the right amount.  "Oh, yes.  That's her name.  I wanted to call her diamond because those gems are so sparkly and pretty and expensive, but my husband insisted that we call her Jessie after some old friend of his.  Can I help it that he had to kill him?"

The young man blinked at the woman before taking the bag from her.  "Um, I guess not."  He backed away from her and headed for the front door.

"Thank you," she called to his back.  "Shop with us again."

The shop's bell rang again as the man reached the door, and Willow walked inside.  Anya watched as the two eyed each other hard before he passed her and disappeared into to the street.  The red head watched the direction he left in before hurrying inside.

"Who was that?" she demanded from the young woman who was working behind the counter.

"Who?"

"That guy!  Who was he?"

"I don't know, just some guy," she shrugged.  "He bought lots of expensive things, and actually paid for them in cash.  Unlike some people."

Drawing a deep breath, Willow glanced over her shoulder back at the door.  "I don't like him," she said shaking her head.  "There's something off. I could feel it."

Anya raised an eyebrow at that statement.  "He seemed perfectly normal to me."

"Well, if he comes back, don't sell him anything else.  We don't want a repeat of what happened with Glory," she warned, grabbed the rest of the black sand she had left on the table, and hurried back outside before Anya could protest.

**********

Buffy stood in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, watching the older vampire who was staring at the toddler that was standing up in her play pen, studying the strange new man who had come to visit.  He didn't look as if he quite knew what to make of her, and the child had the odd look of fascination as she cocked her head to the side and let her little mouth drop ever so slightly open.  Angel jerked his eyes closed and turned away from her; Buffy knew why.  It was, as Xander had put it, the 'Spike look,' and a painful little reminder to Angel about who Dylan's father really was.

He had taken the news as well as could be expected from him.  When she told him, he just looked at her stone faced, never changing emotion from the even face that he had perfected over the years, but she saw the fire dance behind his eyes.  He was angry, upset, but, most of all, hurt.  

Still, there was nothing to be done now, and she wouldn't change it even if there were.  Not for him, not for anyone.

Thankfully, her sister picked up very quickly that this was a place that she didn't want to be, so she grabbed the young boy that had come with Angel and the polite, understanding creature that had once been Cordelia Chase, and took off for the Magic Box to let everyone know what was up.  Dawn had the strictest instructions to head strait for the shop, but Buffy had a feeling that she may have made a detour to a certain bleached friend's apartment.  

"Angel," Dylan said, smiling brightly at him, waiting for the happy reaction that all the others gave her whenever she said their name correctly.

But he just looked at her, his lips never wavering from the strait line, and her little face began to fall and darken.  Looks like it's time for Mom to step in.  Buffy glanced around the room and found her stuffed dog lying on the end of the couch that Angel sat on.

"Dylan," she said as she walked over and picked up the animal.  "You want your dog?"

"Willow!" the baby cried happily, forgetting about the mean man that sat in front of her.  "Want Willow."

As she gave it to her, Angel raised an eyebrow.  "Willow?"

"Don't ask," Buffy sighed sitting down next to him.  "It's confusing as hel-heck now that Willow's back.  I don't think she particularly likes a dog being named after her either," she said with a shallow laugh.

"I can see why," he answered, the awkward silence coming yet again.  "Did he…force himself-?"

"What?  God, no!" she cut him off.  "It was a spell.  I told you that."

"Are you sure he had nothing to do with it?" he asked coolly.  "Because this is Spike we're talking about.  I wouldn't put it past him."

She rolled her eyes at him.  "Yeah, Angel, that makes a lot of sense.  I'm sure Spike just woke up one night, said, 'Hum, I'm bored so why don't I go get myself kidnapped, put into isolation for months, knock the slayer up, then spend the next year runnin' around the globe because some crazy witch wants the kid.'  Yeah, that just screams 'Spike.'"

"You don't know him like I do, Buffy," he bit back, his own temper rising.

She gave him a good, long, cold stare.  "I know him a lot better than you think."  Her anger began to die as she looked down at the little girl before them who was now sitting in the play pen, quietly cuddling with her stuffed animal.  "He's different, Angel.  Even before the soul he was."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about the soul," he grumbled coldly.  "How do you even know it's really there, Buffy?  Does he feel sorry for the things he's done?  Does he mourn for the people he killed like I do?  Tell me, Buffy.  If you know him so well, does he?"

"He's not you, Angel," she told him, avoiding his accusing gaze.

"But he was close enough to get you to sleep with him," he said under his breath, but loud enough to where she could hear him.

Without a thought, she spun around and slapped him hard across the face, causing his head to jerk to the side.  Dylan looked up at the sound, but her mother was to busy concentrating on the person before her to notice. 

"How _dare you say something like that to me?  I was under a spell then. We both were."  She then sneered, "You have a son with Darla.  What's your excuse?"_

He frowned deeply at her choice of words and the point she had made.  Then?  He didn't like what that meant.

"I knew this was a mistake to talk to you alone," she said after a moment, her voice becoming softer with every word.  "I just wanted you to understand."

The tiny blonde stood up from the couch, picked Dylan up out of the pen, and disappeared out the front door to meet up with her friends.

**********

TBC


	3. The Gathering

_Part 3: The Gathering_

Marie pulled back the cheap hotel's thick, radiation proof curtains and checked for the familiar blue Taurus, only to find that it still hadn't returned.  It had been nearly an hour, where on earth could he be?  It wasn't like this was some huge town that he could get lost in.  Hell, she had been to villages in Japan that were bigger then this place.  Not to mention nicer.

"Re," a little voice said from beside her as a tiny hand pulled on the bottom of her over sized peasant shirt.

She glanced down at her side and found the little three-year-old staring up at her with his large, tired brown eyes.  His Spider Man t-shirt he wore was horribly wrinkled from his nap.  

"When's Daddy coming home?" he asked, a slight pout forming on his lips.

A kind smile formed on hers as she reached over and rubbed the side of his head.  Unlike his father, Van a had head full of dark brown hair, reminding the young woman how much he actually looked like her sister.  She wished so badly that she was still alive.  If nothing else, so she could be here instead of her.

"Soon, baby," she told him sweetly.

"I hope so," the child told her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his little head on her hip.  "Night's coming.  Bad things come out at night.  Like the bad things that sent Mommy to heaven."

"I know," she said, trying to sooth her nephew with a gentle rocking motion.  "But that's why Daddy's here, remember?"

He nudged his little head closer into her side, and, to her relief, she heard the lock to the room being turned.  Van's face brightened when his father step through, carrying a large bag with 'The Magic Box' printed on its side.  The child let go of his aunt and leapt to his father.

"Hey, buddy," he said kneeling down to his level.  "Have a good nap?"

"Uh, huh," the child said bobbing his head up and down before noticing the bag.  "Daddy, what's that?"

Eric looked down at the shopping bag, then back at his son.  "Something for your Aunt Marie.  Now, why don't you go wash up, and I'll take us out to eat.  How about at…Doublemeat?"

"Yeah!" the three-year-old exclaimed before he took off for the bathroom and left the two adults alone in the room.  

Inwardly, Marie shuttered at the thought of eating at the disgusting place again.  Just something about there being two kinds of meat in the thing made her stomach turn, not to mention the fact that it taste like neither beef nor chicken.  But Eric just smiled at his son's excitement for such a cheap meal before turning to his sister-in-law.

"Here," he said handing the bag over to her.  "Hope it's the right kind of stuff.  The sales girl just kept pulling these little bags off the shelf and shoving them in there."

"Not to mention she over-charged you," the woman answered, holding up a little bag of cat tooth powder.  "How much did you spend?"

He sighed as he walked over to the table and flopped down in one of the chairs.  "Let me put it to you this way. There's a reason why we'll be eating from the value meal for the next couple of days.  So, you think you can do it with this stuff?"

"Oh, yeah, no problem.  We just need one more thing, though."

"What's that?"

She drew in a breath and let it out slowly.  "A lock of the girl's hair."

Eric groaned as he leaned back on the bed.  Marie knew that was easier said than done, but there was no other way.

"Fine," he sighed.  "I'll get it, somehow."

"Good, I'll call the boss then and let him know what's up," she said as she tucked away the supplies.  "Come Monday, this should all be over with."

"I hope you're right."

**********

Travers sat back in his chair, staring out the large window in his office at the dark city bathed in a thick cover of fog.  In less than two weeks, the child would be a full year old, and she was still beyond his control.  It wasn't right, she was his project, his prize, and she was still with that slayer and that…thing.  Disgusting really, not to mention disgraceful.

Lindsey had been sensing her boss' down mood and felt it best if she avoided him.  He didn't even remember the last time she had actually come into his office; just called him over the intercom if there were a call or let in a person with a scheduled appointment. Tonight was no exception.

"Mr. Travers," a tiny voice came.  "There's a call for you on line two."

"Thank you, Lindsey," he replied before picking up the phone.  "Travers."

"Hello, Mr. Travers," a woman answered coolly, causing the Watcher to sit up straight.

"Ah, it is so good to hear from you, my dear.  Tell me, how are things?"

"Going very well, Sir.  Though, I fear that the witch may be starting to suspect something."

He frowned deeply at the news.  "That is unfortunate. Do you think she'll be a problem before you are able to fulfill your job?"

The woman on the other end snorted.  "No.  And even if she is, I can take care of that very easily."

"Excellent," he said with a wicked smile, feeling his spirits lifting with the news.  "Do not forget our deal, Ms-"

"I haven't.  I give you what you want and we're even."

"Of course, my dear," he lied.  If she really thought that this would be the end of their association, she was seriously mistaken.  "I look forward to seeing you and the child soon."

"Sure, whatever," she answered, sounding rather annoyed before hanging up.

The old man sat back in his chair and laughed slightly to himself.  Well, maybe he would be celebrating the first year of life with the little precious herself after all.

**********

Angel paused at the entrance to the Magic Box.  He knew he shouldn't have said those things to Buffy; he knew when those words passed out of his mouth that he shouldn't have, but he had.  That look on her face hurt a hundred times worse then the sting of the slap.

He sighed deeply from within.  Well, time to face the music.

The little bell rang out loudly as he pushed the door open and he felt the tension hit him in a hard wave when he stepped inside.  The whole room paused and turned to look at him, half with scolding eyes, the others leaving him to deal with this on his own.  Oh, this was definitely not good.

Buffy was standing over by the counter, the other women of the group forming an almost protective circle around her and the baby she held.  Her usually bright hazel eyes were still dark from hurt as she pushed Dylan a little higher on her hip, and then said, "I'm going to go train in the back."

"Buffy-" he said gently, taking a step in the direction she was fleeing, but Dawn moved in his way, her arms crossed and the iciest glare on her face that he had ever seen before.

Cordy, who had much the same look on her face, grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him back towards the door saying, "We need to talk.  Now."

Angel cringed inwardly.  He knew that tone, and this wasn't going to be pretty.  She dragged him out front, crossed her arms, and shifted all her weight to one foot.  Her eyes were hard as she bit at him, "What the hell is wrong with you?  Did that part of your brain that tells you when not to say something just stop working today or something?"

"Cordy-"

"Because, I swear that if you'd said that to me, you'd be calling the Dust Buster in the utility closet home."

He dug his hands deep into his pockets as he looked down to the sidewalk.  Cordelia became very nervous herself as she shifted on her feet and carefully asked, "Are you still in love with her?"

His head shot up at that.  "What?  No.  I'm not.  We're just friends…or we were."

"So, then why were you playing The Jerk?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"I-I don't know," he said sighing.  "I mean, she told me about her and…She told me who Dylan's father is, and-I don't know.  I just got mad.  I mean Spike-Spike!-has a child, her child.  He got to see her first steps and hear her first words and he'll get to be there for the first day of school and hear her call him daddy.  He doesn't deserve to have that."

Cordy blinked as she listened to him.  "You're jealous."

"What?  No."

"Yes, yes you are!  You're jealous of Spike."  

He glared at her for a moment, determined that she was wrong.  He was not jealous of Spike, the annoying vampire had nothing he wanted.  Just because his grandchilde got to have a pretty little girl, who would love him no matter what, and look to him for answers and comfort, and would never look at him with contempt because of what he was…Oh, God, he was jealous.  Spike was going to get to have the life with Dylan that Angel never got to have with Connor, and that made the elder vampire angry.  Why would the PTB's allow the bleach blond to have that life and not him?   It wasn't fair.   Spike didn't deserve it, but, then, neither did he.

"Well, you're just going have to get over it," Cordelia's voice broke through his thoughts.  "I mean, look, I'm not all 'yeah, go Spike' or anything, but if you want to keep Buffy as your friend, I suggest that you get over it."

"It's not that simple, Cordy," he said solemnly.

She sighed.  "I know it's not.  But, remember, we're here to help Buffy, not attack her and her life choices.  If we were, I would have been all over that outfit she has on.  I mean, hello, the peasant look is so yesterday."

Angel couldn't help but smile at her.  She hadn't even been back in town one night and she was already tapping her old May Queen persona.  Must be something to do with the Hellmouth.  Brings out the worst in everyone.

"Besides," she went on.  "If Dylan really is Spike's, then that kind of makes her part of your family.  Which means we've got some major catching up to do in the spoiling department if we want her to be as bad as Xander's little girl."

He laughed softly at her.  Spoiling the girl rotten did have a certain nice evil quality to it.

"Now, go apologize to Buffy and let the spoiling begin.  I want that kid so rotten by the time we leave that they'll shutter the next time we call and say we're coming up."

Angel bent over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  "Thanks, Cordy," he said before heading into the shop to do just as the seer suggested.

**********

Buffy stood in front of the black bag, continuously punching it as hard as she could while Dylan watched in amazement from her play pen.  

How dare he come here and judge her for something she had no control over!  He at least knew what he was doing when he slept with Darla!  But does that matter?  No.  Cause he's Angel and he gets to make mistakes and not have anything said to him.  But because she was Buffy, his pure, innocent slayer led to corruption by his wayward grandchilde, he could judge her life all he wanted.  That just wasn't fair!

She reared back and punched the bag with all her might, knocking it off the hinges and causing it to land on the ground with a loud thud.

"Well, it's good to know that if we ever get attacked by a legion of evil punchin' bags you can take 'em," Spike said sarcastically, leaning in the doorway from the alley.

The slayer glared over her shoulder at him before starting to take off the tape wrapped around her hands.

"Daddy!" Dylan chirped happily, holding up her arms to him.  "Up."

He smiled kindly at the child before complying with her wish.  She snuggled into the cool, soft leather jacket as he kissed her forehead and turned his attention back to her mother.

"Take it Peaches 'as been givin' you a hard time," he said calmly daring to get a little closer to her, though he knew he would be risking himself.  Even if he was holding the baby, she could still take him out in a second flat and be holding Dylan in her own arms before he hit the ground.  He'd much rather not go into how he knew that.

Buffy grunted as she jerked off the top to her water bottle.  So he had talked to Dawn.

"You can say that," she snorted before taking a sip of the liquid like it was vodka instead of water.  "I mean, where the hell does he get off riding me for what happened?  It's not like he was in the picture then anyway."

Spike frowned at her words.  He wasn't in the picture _then?_

"I mean, come on, give the jealous boyfriend act a rest already," she said shaking her head slowly.  

She knew he wasn't really mad at her, he was mad at the situation, and, since Spike wasn't there, he lashed out at her.  Like the rest of her friends, it would take him awhile to get used to it, but he would eventually.  Though, she didn't think that she should plan on him ever liking the fact that Dylan was Spike's child.  That's okay, though.  She really didn't like the fact that Connor was Darla's son, so she guessed they were even there.

"Sorry I wasn't there for you, love," Spike said, shifting Dylan in his arms as she played with the lapel of his coat.

The slayer gave him a weary smile.  "It's okay.  If you had been, I'd probably been empting what's left of you into the trash right about now."

"What?  You think I couldn't take on dear old Grandpappy?" he asked with a smirk.

"In a word?  No."

He laughed at her.  "Okay, come on, Buffy.  I could kick the poof's-"

"Buffy, I-" Angel voice called, cutting Spike off.  The older vampire froze in the doorway, his eyes locked on the younger vampire.  _If looks could __kill, Spike thought idly as he shifted Dylan in his arms.  "You," his grandsire hissed._

Spike smirked at the poof.  "'ello, Peaches, it's been awhile since I last tortured you."

"Peaches!" Dylan repeated happily, causing Spike to smirk even more if it where possible.

"That's my girl," he whispered softly in her ear.

But Angel didn't seem to notice the small child in his arms.  In fact, he was across the room in a second flat and had Spike pinned against the wall by the throat.  Dylan began to cry as her father tried to keep his grandsire off with one arm, and maneuver her with the other.

"Get off!" Buffy exclaimed in a horrified tone, jerking her ex to the ground and placing herself between the two.  She took the screaming child from her father, began rocking her, and then turned her venomous stare toward her old flame.  "Are you insane?!  You could have hurt Dylan!"

Angel blinked from the ground and looked at the child in her arms, seeing her for the first time since he had come into the training room.  "Oh, Buffy, I'm sorry."

"Buffy!" Dawn said rushing in with Giles.  "What's wrong?  Why's Dylan screaming like that?"

The slayer gave Angel a cold look before turning her attention back to her sister.  "She just got a little scared is all," she said kissing the child on the head.  "I think she'll be okay in a minute."

"Yeah, as long as the great hair gelled one stays away from her," Spike added coldly.

His grandsire growled lowly at the comment, but Buffy quickly shut him up with a look before passing her baby to Dawn.  The tiny blonde then said to Spike, "Come on, let's head to Willy's.  I'm suddenly really in the mood to beat something up."

Cordy was standing by the door as the slayer passed, a confused look on her face as the two headed out the front entrance.  The seer then turned from the door, and glared at Angel, who was still sitting on the ground.  "That's not what I meant when I said apologize."

**********

TBC


	4. Lucky Ones

_Part 4: Lucky Ones_

Bang!

"OWW!!"

She loved that.  That perfect popping sound as her fist slammed into the man's face and broke his nose.  It was music to her ears.  How sick is that?

Willy drew his hands up over his now bleeding nose, his eyes almost completely squeezed shut as he tried to stop the blood flow.  Buffy drew back her fist beside her head, keeping it raised up enough to strike at her given will.  Spike smiled his approval of her methods, before she proceeded on.

"What's going on, Willy?" she said coolly.

"I swear on my mother's grave I don't know, Slayer," the bartender whined through his hands.  "Well, I would swear on her grave if she were dead."

"Wrong answer, mate," Spike told him as Buffy drew back her fist to hit him again.

"Okay! Okay!" the rat like man said, waving his arms in front of her to stop the punch before she could throw it.  His whole face was now covered in blood.  She didn't realize she had hit him that hard.  "Some guy's been goin' around askin' a lot of questions about you guys and the other white hats."

"Who?" Buffy demanded.

Willy took a step back, thinking that perhaps she wouldn't be able to reach him.  "I haven't a clue."

Spike's hand shot out, wrapped around the man's collar, and jerked him back hard into the counter with a satisfying thud.  The vampire was in full game face now as he held the seedy barkeep that looked as if he might wet himself close and growled, "Who, Willy?"

"Alright!  Some blond guy!" Willy screamed in fear, knowing that Buffy would probably never kill him intentionally, but Spike would have no problem with it.  

Spike slightly relaxed his grip on Willy's collar as he slipped back into his human form.  He really was too easy to get information out of sometimes.

"Did you get a name?" Buffy bit at the bartender.

"Um…Eric, I think.  But that's all I know, I swear."

The bleach blond studied the man in his grip for a long time before letting him go.  Willy stumbled away from the side of the bar Spike stood on, inadvertently taking him closer to Buffy again.   He glanced over at the smaller blond, only to find her fist slamming into his face one last time for good measure.

"Oww!" he screamed again, covering his already bloody nose once more.

"Thanks, Willy," she smirked before the two headed back into the thundering night.

**********

Willow gave a deep sigh as she placed the book back on the shelf and rejoined the fellow Wicca at the pizza box covered table.  Dawn couldn't help but smile when the red head curled up next to Tara, smiled, and began to read her book with her.  It was good to see Willow smile; she so rarely did it anymore.

The teen glanced around the room, surveying what the other adults were doing.  Giles, of course, was slumped over his book, deep in research mode for any clues he thought might prove useful later on.  Apparently not knowing what they were looking for wouldn't stop the Watcher.

Xander was leaning back in one of the table's chairs, looking full and content with his own book opened in his lap.  To be truthful, he had that glazed look in his eyes, like he wasn't really reading what was in front of him, but wanted to look like he was.  Dawn actually half expected to hear a faint snore from the carpenter, even if his eyes weren't open at the time.

Anya was fluttering around the shop, getting ready for closing time, which was fast approaching.  The ex-demon had made a rather large sale earlier that day and had been content for the rest of the afternoon, which the rest of the group was thankful for because at least then they wouldn't have to listen to her complain.

Connor and Angel had disappeared soon after sunset to do a quick patrol.  The girl understood the vampire probably needed to beat something up as bad as her sister did.  Dawn could honestly say she felt sorry for any baddies that ran across those two tonight.

At the moment, Cordelia was playing with the two baby girls who had both started to get fussy when the storm that was threatening to pound on them blew in off the coast.  Jessie was sitting quietly, still clutching her demon doll, and watching Dylan bounce around in front of Cordy, giggling wildly as the seer would tickle her whenever she caught her.  It was distracting, yes, but at least the toddler wasn't running around the store anymore.

The rain finally started to beat down heavily on the roof, causing everyone in the shop to look up towards the ceiling.  Even the groggy Xander said, "Here comes the rain."

"I hope Buffy and Spike get back okay," Tara thought aloud before turning back to the book before her.

"Ah, the Buffster will be fine," Xander reassured her, getting up from the chair for a good stretch.  "As for Spike…let the vamp drown for all I care."

"Xander!" Tara and Dawn snapped in unison.

"What?  I'm just saying…"

"I'm sure they're both fine," Giles put in, trying to stop the fight before it started.  "All though, it will probably be awhile before either they or Angel and Connor will be able to return."

"Oh, drat, we have to put a hold on the awkward, uncomfortable silence?  I just don't know how I will ever go on," Xander said sarcastically as he walked over and scooped Jessie up in his arms.

Cordelia rolled her eyes before picking Dylan up to face her old boyfriend.  "Gee, aren't we Mr. Sarcastic tonight?"

"Xaner sartatick," Dylan agreed with a grin.

"Great, now not only do I get to be 'Whelp' but I'm 'sartatick' too," he said giving Cordy a pointed look.

"Not my fault the kid learns quickly," the seer answered, with a sarcastic grin like she had in high school.  

_Great, the two hadn't even said two words to each other all day, and, now that they do, their fighting worse the Buffy and Spike, Dawn thought with a sigh. __ At least they were both holding children so they wouldn't hurt each other._

The rest of the group groaned as Xander continued, "Is that the great Queen C I see coming out of you, Cordy?  I thought you finally outgrew that."

"Guys!" Dawn pleaded, hoping that would make them stop.  It didn't.

"I did.  But apparently you didn't outgrow being a complete as-"

A loud clap of thunder cut her off before sending the whole shop into darkness, except for the small flashes of light from the window.  Jessie began to cry from being scared by the nose and clung onto her father for safety.  Xander began to sway with the child, trying his best to calm her down, as the other Scoobies sprang into action.

"Alright, everyone," Giles said in his take charge tone like he was talking to a bunch of kids again.  "Just stay calm and look for some candles."

"In-cendo!" Willow said, forming a little ball of white light in her cupped palm.

"Or we could do that," the Watcher said dryly as all eyes turned to the red head.

"You finally figured out that sunshine trick?" Xander asked hopefully when Jessie's cries lessened.

Willow shrugged. "Na, think of this as more of a magical flashlight trick."

"Hey, either works for me," he said as those with free hands began to gather up the candles from around the shop and set them on the table.

Dawn headed back for the storage room where she knew Giles kept a lot more of the candles, when a cool wind blew in from the back training room.  She glanced inside the large dark room, when another flash of lighting struck outside, showing her that the alley door was opened.  That was odd.  She could have sworn Spike had shut it when they left.

"Hey, guys," the teen called, turning back to the adults.  "Who left the back door-oomph?!"

Someone pushed Dawn hard from behind, knocking the teenager to the ground.  As she pushed herself up on her elbows, a woman's voice from behind her exclaimed, "Exstinguo!" 

Willow's ball of light went out with the word, along with the few candles that they had already lit.  Dawn felt someone carefully step over her, then heard their footsteps as they ran across the room towards the group.  She could barely make out the form that moved so gracefully through the darkness that was heading straight for a confused Giles.

"Look out!" she screamed, causing Giles to turn just as the person knocked him to the ground forcefully, before the mystery person disappeared into the shadows again.

The teen's eyes darted around the room, looking desperately for a moving shadow.  But the whole room was eerily still, except for Anya trying to help Giles get to his feet again.  Jessie was crying yet again, allowing Dawn to know where she and Xander were, even if she couldn't see them, and the teen could hear both Tara and Willow murmuring.

"Silentium!" the woman voice said again, causing all noise in the room to stop.

Dawn watched as Tara and Willow's shadows started to interact with one another, trying to figure out what had happened to their voices.  Even Jessie's cries had stopped, and Dawn couldn't force her own voice to come out.  It was like someone had hit a mute button for the world.

Something crashed into Willow, knocking the girl forcefully into the table that she had been standing by.  There was a loud crash as the books they had been researching fell to the ground, and several of the chairs around the table were knocked over.

'Willow!' Dawn mouthed, but couldn't say.

Cordy was clutching Dylan to her as she backed into the middle of the room shop, trying to find a safe place from the invisible attacker.  The shadow moved at her, and the seer looked as if she were trying to scream, when the bell over the front door rang out and a soaked vampire and his son came inside.  Angel was in full game face, knowing something had been wrong outside, as he charged in and tackled the shadow to the ground.  

The vampire growled loudly over him when the woman yelled, "Separate!" 

The two went flying in opposite directions, Angel back into Connor, and the shadow man crashing into the play area under the loft.  As father and son got back to their feet with the others, the shadow disappeared back into the training room, and out the alleyway door.

"Is everyone okay?" Angel asked, looking around for anyone to give him an answer, but only silence greeted him.  "Well?"

**********

Buffy cursed to herself as she ducked into the crypt, soon followed by the pervious owner.  That storm had caught them off guard, and now they were still half way across town from the Magic Box and didn't look as if they would make it there anytime soon.  At least they were near Spike's old crypt, and Clem was always bugging them to drop by anytime they wanted.  Looks like he was going to get that visit tonight.

"Clem!" she called into the dark crypt as Spike went to lighting the candles.  "Clem, you home?!"

"I think he's in San Francisco this week, love," the vampire informed her once he was satisfied with the amount of light.  At her confusion, he explained, "Went to some sci-fi/horror convention.   Says it's the only time he can go out and meet regular people without them freakin' out because he looks different."

"I get it, blend in with the guys who wear those freaky masks and all that special effect makeup," she said, nodding her head to show she understood.  "Kind of smart."

"Yeah," Spike grinned.  "He wins their best amateur makeup effect every year."

"I bet he does," she said flopping down on the couch that the demon had drug up into the crypt.

The slayer began to mentally scold herself for not getting that cell phone like Dawn had suggested a few weeks ago.  She so wanted to call and make sure that Dylan was alright, but instead she would have to wait until the storm died down so they could leave.  Judging by the amount of nervous energy that Spike was displaying, he felt pretty much the same way she did about being stuck there.

"Might as well sit down," she said after getting slightly dizzy from watching him.  "I don't think we'll be going anywhere for awhile."

"I just hate bein' stuck in this bloody place," he growled, sitting next to her. 

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Buffy agreed, leaning back a little further on the couch.  "But unless you have an ark handy, we're pretty much stuck here."

A loud blast of thunder rang through the air, causing the slayer to jump from surprise.  Her nerves had already been shot to hell from the day she had had, and now she was jumping at thunder like some scared little kid?  Could things get any better?

"Ah-choo!" she sneezed.  Well, she was the one that asked.

Her small body trembled as the cold winter air seeped in from outside.  Spike raised an eyebrow when he noticed her movements.

"Cold, love?"

"Just a bit," she answered, rubbing her still wet arms.  Even with the jacket on, she had gotten soaked, and he didn't look much better.  With a sigh, the bleach blond stood up and held out his hand for her.

"Come on, then.  I think I left some clothes downstairs.  Might not fit right, but at least they're dry."

Buffy couldn't help but sneer a little at the thought at wearing his clothes, but he was right.  Dry Buffy in Spike's clothes was a lot better then sick Buffy in her own outfit.  Reluctantly, she took his hand and followed him down to the lower level.

The slayer never remembered coming down here before and was actually kind of amazed at how much room was there.  She couldn't help but wonder exactly how Spike was able to dig a lot of this out.  No, wait.  On second thought, she didn't want to know because it probably involved calling in favors that were better left under the table.

As he went off in search of the left over clothes, she walked over to the large, four posts bed and looked at it.  The white sheets were nicely cleaned and made up, and looked rather inviting.  Yeah, that would be nice, to curl up into the bed and take a long nap, maybe with a certain someone's arms around her, after having worn her out from-

Whoa!  Wait a minute!  Where'd that come from?  Well, she knew where that had come from, but she was so not going to deal with that right at that moment.  They had more important things to worry about then her sex life, or the lack thereof.

"There you go, pet," Spike said, handing her a royal blue, button up shirt.  "Gonna be big, but at least it's not wet."

"Wow," she said sounding rather impressed as she held out the shirt to inspect it.  "I didn't think you owned anything that wasn't red or black."

"Well, you know me, always like to keep you guessin'," he said with a cocky grin, sliding his leather jacket off before pealing off his soaked black t-shirt.  Buffy blushed slightly from the sight of him shirtless and what she had just been thinking about, and spun on her heels to face the other direction.  She was doing her best to concentrate on the blue shirt in her hands when she heard him laugh.  "What's the matter, slayer?  S'not like it's anythin' you 'aven't seen before."

"Yeah, well, um," she stuttered, glancing over her shoulder to see him watching her, the red shirt still unbuttoned as he held his arms crossed and waited for her answer.  Her face became even and she said with her back to him, "Just turn around so I can change."

Buffy felt him come closer to her as she played with the shirt he had given her.  

"You want me to turn around while you change?" he asked lowly when he was standing directly behind her.  Spike grabbed her wrist and spun her around to face him again.  He stepped forward to where there was barely an inch between the two, and then ducked his face so close to hers so that their lips were nearly touching.  "Make me," he purred.

Buffy swallowed hard at the close contact, and fought to stand on her fast weakening knees.  She wanted to kiss him so bad; she wanted to throw her arms around his neck and just forget everything that was going on.  But she wouldn't.  Now was not the time, she told herself.

"I will," the petit blonde told him as coldly as she could, but her voice sounded weak even to her.

When he didn't move, she tried to go around him, but he still held onto her wrist.  She had walked just far enough away to where he was going to have to let her go, she heard him mutter, "Oh, bugger it."  

He jerked her back to him by the arm, and caused her to crash against him.

"Spi-"

He cut her off by crushing his lips to hers.  She held her mouth tight for a moment, surprised by what he had done, but then began to relax it and allowed him to deepen the kiss.  Spike let go of her wrist in favor of holding her by the waist, which allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck.  Buffy finally broke the kiss when she needed air.

"Buffy-"

"Spike, for once in your life, just shut up," the slayer said before pressing her lips to his again.

**********

The old car pulled into the run down motel, the windshield wipers keeping the steady beat with the song on the radio before Eric killed the engine.  The young man looked beaten and worn, as he slumped back in the driver's seat and glanced over at Marie, who was watching the sleeping child in the back.

"Do you think they saw you?" she asked, keeping her voice down not to disturb Van.

"No.  They just saw a shadow move," he told her, making himself more comfortable.  "I don't even think the vampire knows what I look like.  Tore a hole in my shirt, though.  It was brand new, too."

"I hope he didn't see you," she sighed.  "That could really make things more difficult."

"Don't worry about it so much, we got what we needed."

He reached into his pocket, pulled a clear little baggie filled with the hair that she had requested, and handed it to her. She looked at it for a long moment, then stuffed it into her own pocket.

"I better go call the boss and let him know we're ready to go," she said, popping open the passenger side door and charging for their hotel room.

"Daddy?" the little voice said from the back seat.  Eric looked up into the review mirror and watched his son sit up, rub his eyes, and then yawn widely.  "We back?"

"Yeah, buddy, we are.  You ready for bed?"

"Not sleepy," he said, yawing once more.

Eric couldn't help but smile at the tired little guy.  The kid looked like he was about to fall asleep sitting up, yet he was still insisting that he wasn't tired.

"Come on, big guy," his father said getting the umbrella out.  "Let's get you to bed.

**********

Buffy was asleep next to him, curled up in his arms with a contented little smile on her face.  Cor, she was beautiful, especially now when she had that nice glow to her.  He so didn't want to wake her, but the storm was dying down and they really needed to get back soon.  He just wished they had a little longer.

But time was something that they never had.  There was always something waiting for them to tend to, or someone waiting for them to save.  But, it was still raining; he could let her sleep for just a little longer.

Nudging his head into the back of her neck, he whispered to her sleeping form, "I love you."

He never saw her eyes open ever so slightly, nor did he notice that the contented smile widened.

**********

TBC


	5. No Evil

Hey, people.  Sorry it took so long to get this section out, blame it on school and stuff.  Well, I was planning on having the next part out fairly soon after posting this, but it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to at least late Sunday or Monday.  So, please r & r, because that's the only payment I get for this.  Thanks.

*********

_Part 5: No Evil_

Buffy walked a bit more quickly as they approached the Magic Box, her mind going over everything that had happened that night.  Even though she knew she shouldn't, she couldn't keep herself from smiling.  She just felt too good.  They're all in danger and she was on cloud nine.  Yeah, she's a great friend.

It was just that he said he loved her.  Granted she wished he would have told her to her face, but she knew.  Something told her she had known for awhile, or at least suspected.  But to hear it, that was just…amazing.  Okay, Buffy, you're starting to sound like a lovesick teenager.

Wait a minute.  Did she just say lovesick?

Buffy reached for the door of the Magic Box when she felt him pull her other arm.  She turned around just in time for him to step to her and brush his lips against hers.  Those soft kisses, she liked those the most.

"Spike," the small blonde said, breaking the kiss, "we can't.  Not here."

"What?  Scared we'll give old Rupes a heart attack?" he grinned at her wickedly.

"Well, yeah, there's that.  And also the fact that your grandsire who already hates you and is my ex boyfriend happens to be waiting for us on the other side of the door."  She shifted her weight onto one foot and crossed her arms.  "Do you really want me to have to explain to Dylan that you're a big pile of dust because you couldn't keep your lips to yourself?"

"Yeah, but what a way to go," he purred, kissing her once more.

Buffy felt her resolve dissolving quickly.  He was such a good kisser.  If they were back at that the crypt – wait.  Why had they left the crypt again?  It seemed important.  More important than this?  It had to be if they left.  Oh, that's right.  Big, nasty evil afoot.  Spike was the big, nasty evil once.  Maybe if he was good, she'll let him be again.  Okay, Summers, that's it.  Remember, resolve.  Resolve!!

She broke the kiss once more, surprised at how tight her lungs felt from the lack of oxygen.  Had they really been kissing that long?  Huh.  She couldn't ever remember that happening before.

"We better get inside," she told him weakly.  "You know, before they send out a search party."

"Yeah, we should," he said, nodding his head, but neither one of them moved.  To be honest, she didn't know if she could right at the moment.

"Um, it might actually require us, you know, moving," Buffy said.

"That might help," he agreed.

The slayer swallowed hard, forcing herself not to kiss him again before reluctantly turning back to the door.  After taking several deep breaths in hope that her face would no longer be 'flushed,' Buffy opened the door and stepped inside.  Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at her.  For a split second, Buffy wondered if maybe she had 'I Just Slept With Spike' tattooed across her forehead or something.

"Hey, guys.  What's up?" she asked nervously as Spike joined her.

"They were attacked tonight after we left," Connor told her simply as he looked up from the book he and Dawn were sharing. 

She felt Spike tense next to her before she exclaimed, "What?!  Oh, God.  Is everyone alright?  Where's Dylan?!"

"Cordy's got her," Angel told her from his post beside the counter where Giles was writing.

The slayer spotted the seer and then snatched the toddler away from her.  Holding her close, Buffy kissed the child on the head as Spike demanded, "Who came after them?  What happened?!"

"And why is my baby doing a scene from a silent movie?" Buffy asked, watching curiously as Dylan opened her mouth, look as if she were trying to speak, then repeating the process.

Spike looked at his child just as confused as her mother, then turned back to Angel.  

"Me and Connor caught the tail end of the show," Angel told them.  "All we know is that they lost their voices because of some kind of spell.  They're trying to fix it now, and Giles is writing down everything that happened for us."

Buffy raised her eyebrow as she looked around at her silent friends, and then at the two mute babies.  Jessie sat in her father's lap, looking to him for answers for what happened. Dylan was fascinated by the fact that, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't make a sound come out of her mouth.  It didn't appear to scare her, but that stubborn streak she had inherited from both of her parents had taken over, and she was now determined to not give up until she could speak again.

Tara and Willow had found a reversal spell and now they, along with Cordy and Anya, were working to brew the foul smelling stuff that was supposed to give them their voices back.  

Xander was trying to keep little Jessie distracted by making her demon doll wags its arms and legs all over the place, as well as make goofy faces to make her smile.  Of course, most of the time Jessie just looked at him like he was insane, but it was kind of cute nonetheless.

Giles was at the counter, writing feverishly on a piece of paper what had happened as Angel, Connor, Spike, and Buffy watched.  The two vampires were doing a good job of avoiding eye contact, opting instead to watch the middle aged man's hand move rapidly to finish his sentence.  When he was done, he tore it out for them to read, and both Angel and Spike made a move for the paper.  Angel reached it first, much to Spike's annoyance.

Angel began to read aloud.  "The power to the shop went out around seven o'clock while we were still researching, and soon after the storm blew up.  When we went in search of some other means of light, someone came in through the back way, and attacked us, though no one was hurt.  He had someone with him, a woman, who cast a spell to first put out the candle we had lit, and then to take away our voices.  Whoever he was, he was about to attack Cordelia and Dylan when Angel and Connor came back and scared him away."

"Bloody hell, Watcher.  A simple 'We were attacked. A witch took away our voices' would have worked," Spike grumbled, earning him an icy glare from Giles.

Buffy tighten her grip on Dylan after hearing she had been in direct line of danger.  She knew she should have been there.  Now there were two of them, and one of them is a witch?  Great, that is just what they didn't need.

Dylan stopped her efforts for speech for a moment, noticing her mother's worried look.  The child then laid her head on Buffy's shoulder and snuggled up close to her neck.  A kind smile rose to the slayer's lips at the toddler's actions to make her feel better, and she reworded them with a kiss on the forehead.

"So, there's two of 'em now?" Spike continued on, having not noticed what his daughter and her mother were doing.

"Looks that way," Angel sighed, handing the piece of paper over to him to read.  "Shouldn't be too hard to take care of.  I scared him off pretty easily."

"Ick!" a voice rang out from the center of the room.

Everyone turned to find Willow standing there, a cup of that awful stuff they had been brewing in hand, making faces.  When she saw all eyes where on her, she said, "It's ready."

Tara drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before taking the cup and drinking from it.  She made a bitter face as she pushed it away quickly like that would make the taste disappear faster.  "Giles?" she said, holding it out for the Watcher next.

Buffy had always seen Giles try and act as dignified as he could, no matter the situation.  So the slayer couldn't help but laugh whenever her Watcher took the cup, took a sip, and nearly spit the stuff out before sputtering "Good Lord, that's awful!"

Seeing that the potion was working, Xander marched up to Giles and held out his free hand to take the glass from the older man.

"No, wait, leave that one," Spike spoke up.  "I like him better without the voice."

Xander glared at the bleach blond, but Angel added, "As much as it pains me, I agree with Spike on that one."

Buffy blinked as she watched the two vampires exchange a small grin at Xander's aggravation, before he grabbed the cup from Giles and swallowed quickly.

"Geeze, Willow," he said when his voice returned to him.  "That taste like my old gym socks."

"Oh, drat, you figured out the secret ingredient," Willow played, fixing a bottle with the stuff in it for Dylan and Jessie while the cup was continued to be passed around.  The red head finished and handed it first over to Buffy.  "Here, try and get her to take just a little."

"Think it'll probably be easier to use the cup, Red," Spike said and Buffy nodded in agreement before handing the bottle to Xander.

Once the cup had been passed around to all the others, it took both Buffy and Spike to force young Dylan to drink from it.  Anya and Xander did not fare much better with Jessie, but when she started to cry from being forced to drink, their task was done.  It wasn't until Dylan exclaimed, "Yuckie!" that Buffy and Spike's was.

"Now that that's out of the way, what do we do now?" Connor asked, leaning against the staircase that Dawn was sitting on.  "This guy's obviously pretty brave if he's willing to attack the group like he did tonight."

"At least no one got hurt," Buffy sighed, holding Dylan close.  Spike reached over and pushed down the soft curls of the little girls blond hair and gave her mother a reassuring look.  He wouldn't let Dylan be in danger again if he could help it.

"Yeah, right," Dawn whined, rubbing the back of her head.  "He ripped out a thing of my hair when he pushed me down."

"I think you'll survive that," her sister said, rolling her eyes at the teen.

"Don't feel bad, Dawnie," Willow said with a grin before reaching up and touching her own head.  "He got me too."

"So, did you guys get any clues while you were at Willy's?" Xander asked as he sat down again with Jessie.

"Got a possible name," Buffy told him.  "Eric."

"Eric?  Well, doesn't that just strike fear into your heart," her friend said sarcastically.

"Anything else?" Giles put in, ignoring Xander now all together.

"Nothing really," Spike continued for her.  

"Actually, we do have something else," Angel spoke up.  When all eyes turned to him, he held up a small piece of deep blue cloth.

"A dish rag?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No," his grandsire hissed.  "I got it off the guy who attacked us tonight."

"So?" Xander said.

"So, we can do a location spell with it, you dork," Cordelia said, catching onto what Angel had in mind a lot faster than the others.  

Buffy watched as her ex nodded in agreement and then handed it over to Willow.  "Can you find him with just that?"

"Sure, no problem.  Just give us a minute," she told him, heading back into the center with Tara.  

**********

Eric slowly pulled the door close to the attached bedroom that he and Van were sharing leaving the little boy sleeping quietly.  Marie had been busy setting up her room for the spell she was about to perform, and now the whole place smelled like incense.  He just hoped the manager wouldn't charge them extra for stinking up the room.

The black-haired woman hung up the phone and sighed as she looked at her brother-in-law.  "Boss says he'll be here soon, and that he hopes everything will be done by the time he gets here."

Eric nodded his head understandingly.  "You ready to do this?"

Marie sighed deeply as she looked over at the small circle that held the ingredients she needed.  He knew she wasn't as powerful a witch as her sister had been, but she still had more than most. 

"As I'll ever be, I guess," she said with a slight shrug.  "I just wish, you know, that it was Katie doing this instead of me."

"Hey," he said taking her by the shoulders and giving her a smile.  "You'll do great.  Just remember what she taught you and there's nothing that she'll be able to do about it.  Everything will be great.  I promise."

"I hope you're right," Marie said solemnly.  The young witch drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before saying, "Boss wants you to meet him at some club in town.  The Bronze, I think.  He said that it would be closed tonight, so no one should be around.  You go, and I'll do the spell."

"You sure you can do this without any of my help?" he asked, raising his eyebrow slightly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine.  Just promise me when this is over, we're going to take a nice, long vacation with no demons or vampires or slayers within a hundred mile radius."

He laughed lightly at her.  "Deal."  Eric took her hands into his, then gave her a small peck on the cheek.  "I'll be back in couple of hours.  Keep an eye on Van."

"Don't I always?" she asked with a smirk that he returned.

He then let go of her hands, grabbed his coat off the twin bed, and headed back into the still, wet night.

**********

"Got him," Willow exclaimed happily with a large smile. She turned in her seat to face the group that stood behind her and Tara.  "Looks like he's heading for the Bronze."

"The Bronze?" Buffy repeated with a raised eyebrow.  "I thought they were renovating that place until after New Years."

"They are," Xander agreed.  "We got the contract the other day.  It's going be closed until at least the tenth."

"Well, someone didn't tell him that," Willow said with a shrug.  "He's making a straight line for it."

"Who cares why he's goin' there," Spike groaned.  "Let's just go kill him and be done with it."

Buffy glared at him for his choice of words.  They were not there to kill anyone, not yet anyway.  First things first, they needed to know what this guy was up to, then they would decide if he needed to be slayed.

"Well, who's all going on this little mission," Cordy asked.  "I mean, I would think that less is best for the whole stealthy thing."

"Agreed," Angel said, nodding his head.  "Me and Connor can go check him out, see what he's up too."

"How about not," Buffy bit back, as if he were insane.  "I think it goes more like Angel, Connor, and Buffy need to go check it out."

"Don't forget me, love," Spike put in.  "If this really is the guy you and the poppet have been dreamin' about, I'm sure as hell goin' with you."

"We don't need you," Angel sneered coldly at his grandchilde.

The bleach blonde returned with his trademark smirk.  "Don't matter, Peaches.  Where the slayer goes, I go."

Angel's eyes narrowed on the younger vampire, and Buffy quickly moved herself between them to keep a fight from breaking out.  God, how did they ever get along with each other for twenty years when they can't even do it now for twenty minutes?  And they both have souls for heaven sakes!

"Okay, we're all going out," she agreed, looking between the two to make sure that the other would be coming and to leave it at that.  The slayer then turned back to Dawn.  "Could you take Dylan home?  I'd feel better if she was with Mom."

"Sure," the teen agreed, taking her niece from her sister.

"I'll go with her," Willow volunteered.  "You know, in case Magic Girl shows up or something."

Buffy smiled her thanks to the witch, then turned back to the rest of the group.  "The rest of you keep up the research until we get back."

**********

The back alley of the Bronze, now there was a familiar place.  

This had been the place where he had first officially met her all those years ago, when she was still an innocent girl and he was revered, respected, and feared even by those in the vampire community.  That had been the night he had wanted her, but not in the same way he does now.  He wanted her blood on his hands, to taste her life drain away between his lips.  Now, five years later, he was hiding once again in the shadows of the alley, but this time it was to try and save her life instead of taking it away.

She hid there in the shadows with him on this night, crouching down low behind a pile of old wooden boxes, watching and waiting for this mysterious figure to arrive.  Peaches had taken point outside the alley, using all the knowledge he had gained from living on the streets like a rat for ninety years to blend in with his surroundings.  As for Peaches Junior, Spike wasn't quite sure where the boy had disappeared to, but had taken their only firing weapon, a crossbow, with him.  

So that left him and her here, watching and waiting alone in the cold December night.  Her hair was still slightly damp from the shower that they had been caught in earlier, but the clothes that she had changed back into were nearly completely dry, except for those tight little pair of jeans of hers.  Not that he minded getting a good look at the denim material shaping itself to her body.  No, he really enjoyed that actually.

"Would you stop looking at me like that," she said in a loud whisper, her eyes still locked on the alley entrance. 

"Like what, pet?" he grinned, sounding as innocent as possible, to force her to explain.

Buffy turned her gaze to him.  "Like I'm some villager that you want to ravage."

Spike couldn't help but chuckle at her.  "Aleady did that tonight, remember, love.  Course, if you fancy another go…"

She made a show of rolling her eyes at him, which just caused him to laugh even harder.  "You're such a pig," the blonde said, turning her gaze back towards the entrance way.

As the cold night became silent again, his mirth began to die as he continued to watch her.  He had expected her to say a bit more on the subject then 'You're such a pig.'  After all, it wasn't ever day one gets to sleep with the person they love, that wasn't spell induced.

"Buffy," he said more softly and seriously, causing the slayer to look back over to him from the tone.  "We do need to talk about what happened tonight."

"Yeah, I know.  We need to talk about a lot of things," she agreed.  "Kind of want to catch this Eric guy first, though."

An older model Taurus headlights cut through the dark as the car pulled into a parking space out front.  Both the slayer and vampire straightened up a bit, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.  

"Looks like you're goin' to get your wish," Spike said, eyeing the blond-haired man who got out of the car. 

The young man wasn't the type of person who stood out in a crowd; much like Spike had always prided himself on doing.  No, this guy would blend into the background and was never the one that would be questioned for any sort of evil activity.  In fact, he looked more like the guy who lived down the street and would let you borrow his lawn mower or invite you over for a Sunday afternoon barbeque nothing like a predator.  But those were the type that always made the best hunters; the best and most dangerous.

He came around to the front of his car, looked around for a moment, then sighed before sitting on the hood.  Nervously, he rubbed his hands together as he continued to apparently wait for someone.  The guy would scream easy meal to any vamp, and Spike couldn't help but wonder why they were all getting so worked up over him.

Buffy glanced over to the vampire at her side and nodded.  He took the signal, and, while she went up one side of the alley through the shadows, he took the other.  Spike crept halfway up through the dark alley when the man on the Taurus suddenly straightened up, and his body became ridged.  He was aware that there was someone else there and slowly began to scan his surroundings for the hidden party.  The man scanned right over where the slayer would have been and slowly came towards Spike, who had pressed himself as far as he could into the shadows.  But that was not enough, for the man's eyes stopped dead on him.

Crap.

Spike watched as the man scurried to get off the hood of his car before running into Peaches, who had snuck up behind him and placed himself to where he couldn't inside the car.  The young man's eyes widened in surprise as the older vampire crossed his arms and said, "Going somewhere?"

He vamped out for good measure, causing the boy in front of him to jump back a little.  Still got the touch, Spike saw.

The blond-haired man turned to run the other way, only to find Spike standing there, also in game face.  Quickly, the younger vampire seized the man by the throat, and slammed him onto the hood of his car.  Buffy jogged up to stand beside him, all the while the guy struggled in Spike's grip.  Connor made his presence known as well, coming out from a nearby shadowy area, the crossbow still raised up in case he needed to use it.

"Who are you?" Spike hissed.

"I-"

"Who?!"

"Eric!" he cried out.  "Eric Davidson."

"Who _sent you?" Buffy demanded._

"I did," a new voice answered.

The slayer spun on her feet, recognizing the voice.  Her mouth hung slightly opened as she fixed her gaze on her old friend and fellow Scooby.

"Oz?"

**********


	6. Lying With The Lion

_Part 6: Lying with the Lion_

The tea kettle screamed as the hot steam was pushed through the small opening, telling Joyce that it was ready.  Quickly, she fixed the three cups of tea to each of the person's liking; she had learned long ago how each of the Scoobies took their tea.  Dawn would want two lumps of sugar, while Willow, like Joyce herself, would want just a tab of honey.  When they were prepared, she picked the tray up and headed back into the living room where the girls were waiting.

Dylan was asleep in her play pen, her little arm draped over her stuffed dog while her mouth hung open.  She looked a lot like Buffy had at that age, and Joyce had to shake the feeling of déjà vu she got from the sight.

In the few minutes that Joyce had been gone, Dawn had spread out on the couch and had also fallen asleep.  Her mother shook her head as she set the tray on the coffee table, and handed the steaming cup to the witch who looked as if she were fighting sleep off as well.

"Thank you," she said, savoring the smell of the liquid before consuming it. The red head seemed to perk up from the beverage.

"So, were you able to find out what's going on?" Joyce asked, taking her seat with her own drink.

"Not much," Willow shrugged.  "Hopefully Buffy and the others will come back with more information."

From the play pen, Dylan began to whimper in her sleep and cuddle close to her stuffed animal.  Her grandmother knew another one of those bad dreams was attacking the child, so Joyce placed her cup of tea on the coffee table and bent over to try and sooth the child with her touch.

"What's the matter with her?" Willow asked cautiously as she watched the two.

"A bad dream, I think," the middle-aged woman answered, the child not calming any.  When she still had no luck in calming her, Joyce sighed.  She couldn't wait until Buffy and Spike got back, Dylan always calmed for them.  Dylan looked as if she were about to start crying, and Joyce ran her hand over the side of her head.  "Shhh, baby.  It'll be okay.  I promise."

**********

Buffy backed away from the car and unconsciously moved closer to her old friend. She couldn't believe it.  Oz?  Oz was the one that sent this Eric guy after them?  But Oz wouldn't ever hurt them, not intentionally.  That was about like believing Xander or Willow would.  But, still…

"Oz?" the slayer asked, her voice sounding horse.

The fellow Scooby came closer to the group around the car.  Spike's grip on Eric loosened from his surprise of seeing 'Red's mongrel' being the one behind all this distracting him from the young man he held.  Eric scrambled away from the vampire, choosing instead to head over in Oz's direction for a small sense of safety.  At the same time, Connor gripped a little tighter on the crossbow, but Angel held up his hand to tell him it was all right.

"Sorry about all the sneakiness," the werewolf apologized, digging his hands a little deeper into his pockets.  "But we couldn't let ourselves be seen."

"Oz, what's going on?  Why are you here?  Why is _he here?" Buffy asked, eyeing the blond-haired man that stood nearby before turning her attention back to her old friend._

The red-headed young man sighed deeply before telling her, "There's something bad in your group, Buffy.  A demon."

"We know we got demons, Wolf Boy," Spike snarled.  "Me and Peaches here are two of 'em."

"Not that kind of demon," Oz answered with a shake of his head.  "This one's a lot sneakier than you two can ever hope to be."

Buffy swallowed hard.  This cannot be good.  Oz was the quiet contemplator of the group.  Yet, in the past five minutes, he had said more then he had in the whole two and half years that Buffy knew him.  If Oz is chatty, then it must really be bad.

Eric looked to his 'boss' before taking up the story himself.  

"See, this demon is an infection, a parasite.  It feeds off negative emotion, so it creates as much as possible in the host. It is, however, extremely intelligent, and knows when it's in danger.  That's why we had to be so covert with you.  I am sorry about that.  But if it knew we were trying to kill it, it would have done something rather rash."  He sighed deeply.  "The thing is the person infected doesn't even know it.  And, once we're able to get rid of it, she won't remember what happened."

"She?" Angel caught.

Oz pressed his lips together, forming a hard straight line.  "Buffy, these parasite demons only live in one place, the Shadow World."

The slayer blinked once, then took off for home.

**********

"Or, maybe she's afraid," Willow offered approaching the woman and child.

"Afraid of what, dear?"

Joyce felt some invisible force wrap its arms around her before throwing her across the room.  She crashed hard into the bookshelf, with all the trinkets and pictures and books falling onto her limp body on the floor.

She was barely holding onto consciousness when she head Willow say coldly, "Me." 

Forcing herself to stay awake, Joyce watched as Willow walked over to the pen, picked the child up, and said, "Come to your Auntie Willow."

**********

Buffy's legs pumped feverishly under her body as she tore towards her home, Spike, Angel and Connor right on her heels.  How could she have been so stupid?!  She knew something was up with Willow. They all did. But it was Willow!  Her best friend would never hurt them.  Would she?

Sharp pains jabbed at Buffy's legs as she rounded the corner and head up her street.  She hadn't run this fast since she went to catch Riley, and that had turned out so well.  No.  She wouldn't let herself think that.  Oz had to be wrong.  Willow would never hurt them.  He just had to be wrong!

The slayer charged up the front stair and burst through the door, nearly tearing it from its hinges.  The house felt charged as she skidded to a stop in the living room doorway and saw her sister fast asleep on the couch.  Maybe they had been wrong after all.

"Dawn?" she called in a small voice.

A small moan answered her, but it had not come from her sister.  Buffy jerked her head towards its origin, and gasped when she saw her mother lying on the floor, the old bookshelf broken and lying on top of her.  The two vampires came to a halt behind her, surveyed the damage, then Angel pushed passed her to see if her mother was alright.  Funny, Buffy felt like her feet were glued to the ground as she watched him check Joyce over.

He looked up at the slayer, and said, "She's alive."

"Niblet's okay," Spike said, kneeling next to her sister.  When had he moved from Buffy's side?  "Just can't wake her up."

The slayer blinked as she looked at the two.  There was someone else she needed to check on, someone that the stress was somehow making her forget about.  There's Dawn, on the couch, Spike kneeling beside her, next to an empty play pen.  Dylan's play pen.  Oh, God-

"Dylan," Buffy squeaked out before turning around and charging up the stairs for her room.  If she wasn't downstairs with her mother, then they must have put her to bed already.  She wasn't gone, she had to be here.  She just had to be!

A soft sound greeted Buffy at the top of the stairs.  It floated into the hallway from her opened bedroom door.  Someone was humming gently from inside.  Slowly, she went to the door and pushed it open.  There was no one inside, but the humming continued from the crib.

Time seemed to slow down as she wandered towards the sound, praying that perhaps she would look over and find her daughter sitting there.  Praying that, maybe, right before she looked over, she'd wake up and find this whole night had been a nightmare.  Instead, she found the baby monitor was lying gently on Dylan's pillow, making the noise.  Buffy didn't know why, but she found herself reaching over and picking the monitor up, her fingers turning white as she clung onto it.

"Wow, Buffy," Willow said when the pretty song she had been humming stopped.  "She really is a cutie.  But, then, I guess with you as her Mommy and Spike as her Daddy that should be expected.  She's going to break a lot of hearts someday.  Or she will, if you do as I say.  And you might as well not look for me, Spike.  I can see you, but you can't see me."

Buffy turned and saw the bleach blond was standing there in the door way, his eyes looking past her into the darkness outside.  She hadn't even heard him come up.

"I want the Key, Buffy," Willow continued, her voice having become harder than she had ever heard it before.  "You have it. I want it.  Just give a shout when you're ready.  I'll be listening."

A faint murmuring came over the monitor.  "Looks like my sleeping spell doesn't last as long on her as it will the others.  All well, maybe a song will keep her quiet.

"Hush little baby, don't you cry,

Buffy can make it all alright.

But if your mommy keeps the Key,

We're going to see what's inside of thee."

Spike snatched the monitor out of Buffy's grip and smashed it into a million pieces on the floor.  

The Key?  She wants the Key?  She wants to trade Dylan for Dawn?!

The air around her was fast becoming thin, and those heavy legs that had been plaguing her all night suddenly felt like they were becoming jello.  Her body began to collapse to the floor when she felt Spike catch her and pull her up to him.

"We'll get her back, love," he told her.  "I swear we will."

She just wished she could believe him.

**********


	7. Close to Home

_Part 7: Close to Home _

Giles sat at the table, cup of coffee in one hand and a large book in the other.  The others had gradually drifted off to sleep, leaving him alone to do the research and wait for Buffy and the others to return.  He had tried on several occasions to rouse them, but all seemed to be in a rather deep sleep.  Must have been exhaustion; he knew he had been feeling the initial effects of it earlier in the evening.  Less than an hour ago, he could hardly keep his eyes opened, but a strong cup of coffee had cured that and now he felt refreshed and ready to go.  Amazing what a little caffeine will do.

Well, at least he didn't have to listen to Xander and Cordelia bicker any more.  

Anya, who had fallen asleep curled up in one of the chairs, snorted loudly as she shifted her body, causing a small pad she had been writing on to fall to the ground.  Giles smiled wearily at the girl.  She really could be cute, when she wasn't awake anyway.  He placed the book he was reading on the counter next to his coffee, and went to retrieve the item that Anya had lost in her sleep.

"Will that be cash or charge?" the ex-vengeance demon murmured in her sleep as the Watcher bent down and picked up the pad.  Even in her sleep, the girl was trying to sell something.  That just confirmed that he had hired the right person to work in his shop, not that he'd ever had any doubt.

Giles scanned over the paper and found that the young woman had been compiling a list of all the items that Tara and Willow had used that night, along with the prices at the side.  Indeed, he hadn't realized that the two witches had accumulated such a large total in debt.  Perhaps he should listen to Anya and rethink the whole 'not charging of his friends' concept.

Why, the ingredients alone to the potion that gave them their voices back had cost him well over two hundred dollars.  They had used two bags of teal wing, half a jar of Hattiesburg deer root, a bottle of black water mist, a teaspoon of yellow quartet dust-Wait a minute.  Black water mist?

"That can't be right," Giles said to himself as he headed to the shelf where he kept it.

He inspected the shelf where the bottle was located and indeed found it to be missing.  That was odd.  Black water mist was used for nothing else except for a new age sleeping agent.  It was very effective, usually giving the person a full eight hours of sleep if taken correctly.  The only down side to it was that just the littlest bit of caffeine would counter act the effect.  So, why on earth would Willow and Tara need it?

A juvenile giggle tore him from his thoughts.  "No, Ahn.  You play the naughty bank teller this time," Xander muttered as he smiled in his sleep.

Giles' eyes widened as he looked around the room.  They were all asleep except for him.  Anya, Cordelia, Jessie, Xander, Tara.  If Tara's asleep, that means she must have not known the water was in the potion, which meant…

"Oh, dear Lord.  Willow," he said to himself as he hurried over to the phone.  

He jerked up the phone and found the line was dead, confirming his suspicions even more.  A wolf in sheep's clothing.  He had to warn Joyce!  He had to find Buffy!!  Grabbing his coat off the rack, Giles headed into the rainy night, praying it was not too late.

**********

Angel and Connor looked up when they heard someone charging down the stairs.  Spike looked as if he were ready to kill the next person he saw as he headed out the door and into the night.  Angel had guessed what Willow had done, and, by the way his grandchilde stalked out of there, he figured he had been right.

"Shit," the elder vampire muttered, getting up off the floor next to Joyce, leaving her with a confused Connor.  Angel was barely out the door when he yelled, "Spike! Wait!"

"Go away, Peaches," the bleach blond warned in a dangerous tone as he stormed across the lawn.  "I don't have time to deal with you right now."

Angel ran after him and grabbed him by the shoulder.  "I said stop!"

He expected the punch and the growl that came with it.  Angel took the hit, then came back around in full game face with his own punch.  Before he knew it, the two Master vampires were on the ground, trying their best to beat each other to a pulp.  Probably to some of the Summers' more curious neighbors, they looked like a pair of school-age boys engaged in a fist fight over some girl.  He just hoped that none of them called the cops.

Angel managed to get on top of his grandchile, and hit him hard across the face.

"For once in your life, listen to me, William," he bit through his clutched teeth.  The use of his given name seemed to stop the younger vampire momentarily, but Angel could clearly see the heat behind his yellow eyes.  "Going off half cocked isn't going to help anyone."  Spike struggled to get up, but his grandsire slammed him back to the ground.  "It won't!  Trust me.  I know."

"You know," Spike sneered.  "What you did finally got you Connor back!" 

"No.  Not Connor.  It got me Steven."  Angel slipped out of his game face and stood up, letting the younger vampire up.  Spike's demonic features also melted away before the older vampire continued, "I love my son, I really do, and when he was taken I tried to do the exact same thing you are.  But you can't go off and face her alone."

"Why the bloody hell not?!"

"Because you and I both know how powerful Willow really is!  And that…thing inside of her has control over it.  Do you really think that she'll even bat an eye if it came to killing you?  To killing Dylan because of you?"  His voice became low.  "I wouldn't wish this on anyone, William.  Not even you, and especially not Buffy!  But you know if you go after Willow right now she would kill you, both of you!  Is that what you want?!"

He watched as Spike's body became tight from anger.  "I have to do something, Angel!" 

The older vampire drew in an unneeded breath.  He knew exactly how Spike felt and suddenly felt himself identifying with poor Lorne that night he had tried to get Connor back.  There was nothing he could say that would stop the father in his quest, except maybe…

Angel bit down on his tongue as he forced himself to say, "Then go be with Buffy."

Spike blinked at that.  "What?"

"Look, she lost her daughter tonight, too.  Since you're the…father, she's going to need you to be there for her."

The bleached blond growled lowly to himself, knowing that Angel had found the one thing that would make him stay put for the time being.  "So, what are we supposed to do?  Sit back and wait for Red to show up again?"

"No. We get the others and come up with a plan," Angel told him.  He turned and headed back into the house.  "Until then, I suggest you go be with the mother of your child."

**********

Marie sat Indian style in the middle of the circle, the tiny black pot in front of her smoking as she prepared to perform the spell.  In just a few more minutes, the witches' powers would be bound, and then maybe she could get a much deserved rest from all this.  She flipped the old book a couple of pages, and began to read and follow the instructions.

"Child from light, cannot be dead. 

The darkness within, has been fed."

The black-haired woman took the maple root, crumbled it up, and let it fall slowly into the smoking pot. 

"Her spirit is strong, her flesh is weak.

A demon control, through her it does speak."

The pot gave out a large pillar of smoke as she reached over and picked up the small clump of red hair Eric had collected for her.  She held it over the pot, and readied to drop it after she spoke the last of the spell.

"Bind her magic, so she may do no harm,

So that the demon cannot be-"

The door to her hotel room slammed open, causing Marie to stumble back from surprise.  Her hand smeared the circle as she backed away, ruining the spell.  The figure was floating at least a foot off the ground, the tips of her toes barely dragging the ground. She came inside.

"Nu uh," Willow said in a singy type voice.  "Little girls shouldn't be playing with magic like that."

Marie gave a panicked looked towards the door that separated her room from Eric and Van's, praying that the little boy didn't come to see what was happening.  The black-haired woman scrambled to her feet only to be knocked back hard against the wall by an invisible force.  The sheetrock cracked from the impact as she slid down to the ground, groaning in pain.

"Did you really think you could get rid of me so easily?" Willow asked, lowering herself to the ground, then slowly walking towards the woman.  "That you could simply chant a few words and *poof* I'd be gone?  You gypsies really are stupid, you know that right?"

The shorter red head reached down and lifted the woman up off the floor by her collar, holding her up a little higher than her head so Willow had to look up at her.  Willow cocked her head to the side as she studied the woman she held.  "You know, you really are a pretty thing."

Marie's eyes flared.  "Abi!"

The more powerful witch flew back, dropping Marie back to the ground.  She moaned in pain from the contact as Willow began to chuckle, pushing herself away from the wall she had crashed into and wiping away the blood that trickled down from the side of her mouth.  "Oh, looks like puppy wants to play."

Marie scrambled for the still opened door in hopes of fleeing, but the plywood slammed shut in her face.

"Uh huh," Willow said.  "Puppy needs to know who her mistress is."

The red head shot her attention to the mirror above the dresser, shattering it with a thought.  But the broken pieces didn't fall to the ground.  Instead, the larger ones flew across the room at the black-haired girl standing at the door.  She did her best to dodge them, but one very large piece cut straight through the palm of her hand, nailing it to the wall.

Marie yelped in pain as several other shards cut her, but she mainly concentrated on the one that held her in place.  Her other trembling hand reached up to try and pull it out of the wall, but just touching the bloody reflecting glass sent pain through her.  She was crying softly to herself when she heard the other woman walking towards her.

Willow bent down and picked up a long sliver of the mirror, playing with its sharp edges with the tip of her finger.  Slowly, she lifted her now black eyes up to the young gypsy, an insane little smile playing on her lips. 

"Now, puppy, let's play."

**********

Okay, it's kinda short like the last chapter, sorry.  The next chapter is longer, promise.  And, once again, please review.  I love hearing from you guys and knowing what you think.


	8. Shattered

_Part 8: Shattered_

Oz glanced over at Eric as he ran a stop sign, nearly sideswiping another car.  There was something wrong that night; you could smell death.  Even if the Hellmouth always stunk of it, there seemed to be even more this night.  The closer they came to the hotel, the more powerful the stench became.

Oz should have known better than to pull his friend into this, but he hadn't known what else to do at the time.  All he knew was that some person had sent him an anonymous e-mail with a detailed file by some Dr. Lang on Buffy and Spike and what she had done to them.  At the very end of the message had been a warning about Willow and the parasite demon, though how this person knew about it he didn't know. 

At the time, he had been in Tibet, and had planned on setting out for the States right then and there when he found out there was a spell that could make Willow Willow again.  If done right, that spell would bind Willow's magic.  Without the supernatural element, the parasite demon would have died.  But a freak snow storm had trapped him, so Oz had called a friend that he had once ran with, Eric.   

Eric was like Oz, a werewolf, but he also knew how to control the beast within.  He had met him shortly after leaving Sunnydale in his journey to find himself. Eric had been at a bar that Oz was playing at, asked if he could sit in for a session, and the two had been friends since then. 

Oz knew that Eric's wife, Katie, had been a powerful gypsy witch when she was alive and had taught her sister, Marie, everything she knew.  All it took was a simple phone call, and the two had set out in Oz's place, even allowing him to call the shots with every move they made.  It was his decision not to tell the others what was happening; but it would have been too dangerous.  He regretted that now.  

When Oz had finally made it to Sunnydale that night, they were going to do the spell then he was going to try and explain to the others about the deceit.  Now everything had been shot to hell and he was just trying to stop the woman he loved from hurting someone, or worse.

The Taurus came to a screeching halt in front of the old hotel.  It looked still as the vacancy sign flashed, which gave him a chill.  This whole scene reminded him a little too much of that Hitchcock classic.  All that was missing was Norman Bates in drag.  Eric ignored it, jumped out of the car, and started to call for his sister-in-law.

"Marie!" the young man yelled as he grabbed the door handle.  It was locked.  He jerked on it a few times, banged on the door, and called again, "Marie!  Open up!"

When still no answer came, Eric looked over at Oz, took a step back, and kicked the door open.  The old plywood gave easily enough, but something was still blocking their way.  Both men pushed on the broken door to let themselves in.  Oz paled at what was on the other side of the door.

Marie's body was slumped against the plywood, her eyes glazed and staring off into nothingness, as trickles of blood dripped from the ends of her mouth and from the many cuts on her face and body.  Her left arm was raised above her, a sharp piece of glass jammed through it to keep it in place.  But those injuries hadn't killed her.  The prefect gash across her throat had.

Oz turned away from the sight, but the image would be forever burned in his mind.  The air was thick with her blood, calling to the wolf inside of him.  He wouldn't let it out.  He couldn't let it out.

Something written on the pale, brown wall caught his eye.  Willow had left it, a message in Marie's blood.  'Bring Me The Key!'

"Oh, God," Eric said, snapping out of his shock.  "Van."

The blond-haired man charged through the adjoining doors into his own dark room with Oz close behind.  Unlike Marie's room that was full of violence, this one sat perfectly still, except for a very small, balled up figure in the corner.

"Daddy?" it said in a small, frightened voice.

Eric flew to it and grabbed his son into his arms.

"I was scared," the child whimpered.  "I wanted to be brave, but I was scared and hid."

"It's okay," Eric soothed.  "You did the right thing by hiding."

The tips of Oz's lips turned down.  He couldn't imagine what Will-that thing would have done had it know about the kid in the next room.  God, she must have known about them being here the whole time and was using them as a distraction for the others!  How could he have been so stupid?!

Van pulled away from his father, his eyes sparkling from his tears.  "Did Re go to be with Mommy?"

The father sighed at his son, rubbing the side of his head like Marie always had.  "Yeah, big guy.  Marie went to go be with Mommy in heaven."

"But I don't want her to go," he cried.  

"I know," he told his son.  "I didn't want her to leave either."  Eric pulled his son close again and gave Oz a look.  He wasn't in this any longer to help out a friend.  He wanted revenge now.  

**********

Spike sat on the coffee table in front of the slayer, doing his best to try and keep her from slipping into whatever fantasy world that was beckoning her to come.  He couldn't let her, she needed to be here to help find Dylan.  But even if that were true, and they both knew it, it didn't mean that the world wasn't inviting and that she didn't want to go to it.

Good Lord, he was no good at being the level-headed one, but he had to be right now; no matter how much his demon screamed to go out there, find Red, and tear her apart to get Dylan back.  But right now, he had to keep Buffy here, with him.  He would listen to his demon later.

Spike watched as Buffy's eyes began to glaze over, then spat her as harshly as possible, "Slayer!"

She blinked at him, but still had that blank look about her.  Her mind hadn't even picked up that the word had sounded mean as he intended.  So much for a reaction like he had hoped for. 

Spike moved closer to her, took her hands into his, and held them up between them.  "Listen to me," he said, forcing her to keep eye contact with him.  "We'll find her, but you have to stay with me here.  You hear me, love?"

She slowly jerked her head up and down to show she did understand, but he had to wonder as she looked away.  "Come on, Slayer.  I need you to snap out of it_."_

Connor had trailed in a while ago and made camp down at the end of the couch next to Dawn who was still sound asleep.  Willow had said something about having put a sleeping spell on them; and, after trying to wake the girl by bribes of large sums of money and telling her that her favorite band Creed was outside, Spike fully believed it.  She must have slipped it into that potion she and Glenda were cooking up earlier.

Angel came downstairs having deposited the still injured Joyce in her room after making sure she would be alright.

"How is she?" Connor asked lowly as his father joined them in the living room.

"She should be fine. I don't think she broke anything, but Joyce will be sore in the morning." 

Spike's grandsire gave a sad look towards the parents who had lost their child, then looked over at Connor.  Almost felt like he was failing at this all over again, only it wasn't his child this time; it was Buffy's. 

"How's she doing?" he asked Spike, nudging his head towards Buffy.

"Barely hangin' in there," he sighed.  "Have you got a hold of Rupert or the others yet?"

"No.  Whatever she did to Dawn, she must have done to them too.  Or she met up with them later and did something worse."

"Worse?" Connor echoed, not understanding.  Angel looked over at his son and raised an eyebrow, and the boy seemed to suddenly understand.

"We need to get back to the shop," Angel told them.  "If they are okay, we'll need the others' help."

"It won't do you any good," a new voice told him.  Spike looked up from the dazed woman in front of him to find Giles coming in through the front door.  The Watcher came to a dead stop when he saw Buffy.  "Good Lord, what happened?"

"Willow," Angel said in a low voice.

"Oh, dear," he said paling.  "I had hoped I would be wrong."

"What?  You knew something was up with Red?" Spike asked, his anger flashing through his eyes.  If the Watcher knew and didn't tell them, so help him-

"No," Giles replied, shaking his head.  "I didn't suspect until I found she had put black water mist into the potion earlier this evening."

"Black water mist?" Angel repeated.  "Isn't that the stuff that makes you sleep like a rock?"

"Yes.  When I started to feel the effects, I mistook it for pure exhaustion and drank coffee. The caffeine counter acted the spell."  The Watcher turned his eyes to the young boy at the end of the couch.  "Connor, run into the kitchen and get a Coke or some tea or anything with caffeine in it and give it to Dawn.  It should wake her up."

Nodding his head, the kid disappeared into the kitchen and left the adults to talk.

"So, what do we do?" Angel asked like some sort of child looking for answers.  None of them even had to ask about what, or who.

"That depends," Rupert sighed.  "What does she want?"

"The Key," Buffy answered her voice barely above a whisper.  Spike looked back at the young woman; her eyes were still empty and haunted as she slowly shifted to face Giles.  "She wants to trade Dylan for the Key."

Giles blinked and drew in a deep breath.  "Oh, dear Lord."

Wait a minute.  Rupes knew what this 'Key' thing was?  She told the Watcher but she couldn't tell him?  Maybe they hadn't come as far as he had thought.

"Wait," Angel spoke up.  "What key?"

A sharp hacking sound diverted their attention away from the subject for a moment, as Dawn began to cough furiously from having a Coke poured down her throat.  Funny, he hadn't even felt the younger version of Peaches come back in.  The Niblet rolled on her side, trying to cough up the soda he had forced her to take in, then sat up on the couch in a groggy state.

"What's going on?  Where's Mom?"

Spike heard Buffy's breath hitch as she looked at her sister before she leapt out of her seat and took off up the stairs.

Dawn blinked from the couch, confused as the others.  "What?  What did I say?"

**********

Willow sat perched on the edge of the desk, regarding the child before with quite a bit of curiosity.  All of this for her?  How strange.  There didn't seem to be anything special about her, besides the fact that she wasn't supposed to exist.  She had never seen the child do anything extraordinary, except maybe for the fact that she was already able to shock Xander and Giles into complete silence from time to time by repeating things she heard her father say.  Other than that, she seemed just like Jessie.

But Willow hadn't been freed from that damned dimension to take Xander's daughter.  No, once more it involved Buffy and her family.  Willow felt the anger start to build in her.  It was always about Buffy, everything was.  Buffy knows what's best, Buffy will be able to defeat it, Buffy stopped the apocalypse.  Buffy, Buffy, Buffy.  It's always about Buffy.

Well, Buffy had left a mess when she ran off with the bleached blonde Billy Idol wannabe, and left poor Willow to clean it up.   What did Willow get in return?  A one way ticket to a place without light, without love, without hope.  She had her life taken away, and for what?  So Buffy could live hers and have the bastard child of a demon.  Typical.

_That's not fair, a voice from somewhere in the back of her mind whispered.  __It wasn't Buffy's fault._

Willow shook her head.  Of course it was Buffy's fault.  It's always Buffy's fault.  It was Buffy's fault that Angel lost his soul. It was Buffy's fault that Ms. Calendar died. It was Buffy's fault Faith turned evil. It was Buffy's fault that Willow got bit by Harmony because she didn't save her at graduation. It was Buffy's fault they were nearly killed that night in the house with Riley. It was Buffy's fault that Adam was released. It was Buffy's fault that Riley didn't stay and she got taken that night. It was Buffy's fault that Willow got sucked into hell with Glory.  It. Was. Buffy's. Fault!

Willow pushed herself off the desk and walked over to the pen that held Dylan.  The toddler was standing up, looking around the strange new surroundings, trying to determine if she should be scared or not.  The witch grinned at her.  Yes, she had a lot to be afraid of.

The cell phone rang, turning her attention away from the little blonde-haired girl.  Right on time, as usual.

Willow casually walked over to where she had left the little black flip phone, and lifted it to her ear.  "Good evening, Mr. Travers."

"Ah, Ms. Rosenberg," the proper British man said on the other end.  "I take it everything has gone well?"

"I had a slight problem with some nosy werewolf and his little girlfriend," she sneered.  "So, I had a little fun."

"It's taken care of then?  Excellent.  So, you have the child?"

Dylan watched Willow intensely, as if she were able to hear what the two were talking about.  That just made the witch's evil smile grow.  "Yes, I have her.  As a matter of fact, she's looking at me right now."

She could almost see Travers smiling like the cat that ate the canary on the other end of the line. 

"She's a cutie, Mr. Travers," Willow told him, walking back over to the pen and bending down in front of the baby.  "Too bad you'll never get to see her."

Travers' breath caught on the other end.  "What?!  What are you talking about?!  You will bring her to ME!"

Willow laughed softly.  "And, Mr. Travers, why would I do that?"

"Because we had a deal," he hissed.

"I'm changing our arrangement," she told him.

"Why, you double crossing little bitch!  I'm going to send you straight back to hell where I found you!!"

The red head laughed at him again as she stood.  "Calm down, Quentin.  You'll give yourself a stroke."

Willow began to focus in on her mental picture of Travers.  He would be standing there, in his office, clutching the phone tightly in his hands until his knuckles were white as sheets.  His eyes would be blazing with anger, and she could see his nose flaring as his breathing becoming heavy with hate.  

She could feel his hate within her.  She could feel it making his chest tighten; she could feel the tightening move to the back of his head.  She was in his head, she could see what he saw.  Her mind began to clamp down in the back of his brain, blocking the flow.  The pain, the delicious pain.  Willow could see the flashes of light before his eyes that were becoming blinding.  The world was spinning, faster, harder.  He couldn't stand anymore, and fell into the blackness with a groan.

Willow snapped her eyes opened, still holding the phone up to her ear.  "Have a nice life as a vegetable, Mr. Travers," she said coldly, then clicked the phone off.

**********

Buffy stood at the crib in her room, staring down at that stuffed animal that Dylan always adorned whenever it was near.  A dog.  Her daughter had named her stuffed dog Willow.  God, she should have gotten a clue, but she didn't want to hear what the child was telling her.  And now that she hadn't, Dylan was gone, and it was her fault.  

The slayer felt him watching her from behind, but she dared not turn around to face him.  Instead of forcing her to look at him by saying something incredibly stupid like she expected, he stepped inside silently and pulled the door closed behind him.

"You want to tell me what this Key is, love?" Spike asked calmly.

But Buffy refused to say anything_.  Please don't do this to me, she thought, clutching the dog.  __Please don't make me choose. _

"Give it to her," he told her as if he she were some sort of small child who had just been told to give back a toy to another kid.  Buffy spun around on her heels and looked at him.  "Give her the Key."

The slayer bit down on her lip and said weakly, "I can't."

"Well, do you have it?" he asked a bit more heated.  She nodded her head yes, lowering her eyes once again to the toy she held.  "Then give it to her," he ordered.

"I told you," Buffy said, turning back to the crib.  "I can't."

"Give her the soddin' Key, Buffy," Spike said as coldly as she had ever heard him.

"I can't," she bit back, her own pain and anger rising.

"Bloody hell, woman.  She has Dylan!  Give it to her!" 

"I can't."

He grabbed her by the shoulders, spun her around, and held her in front of him.  She had never seen him so angry, not even he was trying to kill her all those years ago. "What kind of mother are you?"

Breaking his grip on her, she punched him hard across the face.  "I can't!!"

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because it's Dawn!" she said before she even realized it. Silence passed between them as he stared at her.  It felt oddly better that he finally knew, though she didn't know how it could help them now.  Buffy's anger began to die as his shifted to surprise and shock.  She told him softly, "Dawn's the Key."

He blinked at her, his mind refusing to accept what she had said. "What?  No.  I've known the Bit since-"

"It's not real," she said sadly, shaking her head.  "Nothing before two years ago is."

He shook his head as he tried to understand what she was telling him.  It had to be wrong.  "But I remember…"

Slowly, Buffy moved away from him and went to her bed.  She sat down and looked blankly at the floor as she told him what she remembered from before. Even now, after two years, the story felt strange to tell, but it was the truth.  How does the saying go?  Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes.  

"She was what Glory was after.  Why?  I don't know.  All I know is that there were these monks, and they said that they needed to protect the Key from her.  So, they sent her to me, complete with memories for me and everyone we've ever met.  I don't know what the Key does, but it must be something pretty powerful for them to go through all that trouble." Buffy paused for a moment, and looked down at the animal she still held.  "She is my sister, Spike, my blood. They made her from me. She's a part of me, just like Dylan."  She looked over at him, unshed tears blurring her visions.  "How am I supposed to choose?  Tell me.  I want to know!  How do I choose?!"

He shook his head, looking every bit as confused and torn as her.  "I don't know, love."

Buffy felt herself begin to cry.  She hated that she couldn't do anything.  She hated that she was against her best friend.  She hated that she felt like she should give Dawn over to Willow to save Dylan. She hated that no matter what she did, someone she loved was going to get hurt or die.

Spike sat down beside her, and pulled her to him, letting her cry into his shoulder.  

The two never heard the teenager that had come up the stairs to see what the shouting was about; they didn't know that she had heard. But Dawn Summers now stood beside her sister's door with her world effectively shattered.

*********


	9. Truths and Consequences

_Part 9: Truths and Consequences_

Steven sat on the couch, waiting for his father and the British man to come back from the kitchen.  This whole place was strange to him, much stranger than Los Angeles.  It wasn't that this place had more demon activity, though he had no doubt that it did, but it felt...familiar, like he was home.  Angel had said something about this place being on the Hellmouth, maybe that had something to do with it.  After all, he had grown up in Quortoth, a hell dimension.  Yeah, now that he thought about, that was the feeling he was getting off this place.

The young boy looked up when he heard someone charging down the stairs that Dawn had just ascended a moment ago.  

He wondered if Buffy and Spike – and he thought the people in LA had strange names – knew they were arguing loud enough for everyone in the house to hear.  It had quieted down a few minutes ago, but Steven had learned over time that that necessarily wasn't a good thing.  It might just mean that one killed the other, although he doubted that.  They liked each other, something which visibly bothered Angel, though Steven didn't know why.   He would have to ask Cordy about later.

Dawn charged down the stairs and out the door without a word, though her face was distorted in pain and confusion.  He frowned at that; he didn't like seeing her in pain.  After chancing a glance towards the kitchen, Steven took off after her.  With all that's going on, Dawn going out by herself was not a very good idea, not with this Willow person running around at least.  

He hung back in the shadows, barely keeping behind her, as to not alert her of his presence.  Something had upset her badly, and he knew how it felt to want to be alone, so he gave her space.  If something should come up, he would protect her, though.

The teenage girl's pace slowed as she ran into the park, and she started to yell to the sky, "Willow!  Willow!!"

Steven's eyes widened.  What the hell was she doing?!

"Willow!" she screamed again, her voice echoing through the empty park.

"I'm not Willow," a voice answered.  Dawn spun around to find a vampire standing in full game face.  A devilish grin played on his lips as he continued, "But you're dinner.  Guess Willow can be desert."

"Stay away from me," the girl warned, her body unintentionally falling back into a fighting stance.  

The vampire laughed at the girl, knowing she wouldn't be much of a challenge against him.  He lunged at her, only to be tackled to the ground by Steven.  The dazed vamp struggled under the boy's surprisingly strong grip as Steven lifted the stake he always carried with him.

"Well, she did warn you."  He then drove it into the vampire's heart, causing the creature to explode into a cloud of dust under him.

Steven got up off the ground and turned to face Dawn.  But instead of receiving a thank you, her eyes narrowed in on him as she bit coldly, "What the hell are you doing here?"

The boy couldn't help but blink at the tone.  "Saving you?"

Dawn's voice became tight as she fought back her tears.  "You can't save something that's not real."

Looking at her strangely, he asked, "What?"

"Oh, look," a woman said from nearby, causing both the teens to jump.  Willow was leaning against a nearby tree, her arms crossed and an insane little smile on her face.  Steven moved between her and Dawn; though, if she were as powerful as he thought, he didn't know how much good it would do.  The red head pushed away from the tree and slowly started to walk towards them.  "If it isn't the Scooby-In-Training and Angel Investigation's Junior Detective.  What?  Decided to play Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys tonight?"

Steven growled the best he could at the woman, but he didn't know how intimidating it sounded.  Judging by that smile, not very.  Willow looked down at the stake in the boy's hand and laughed.

"Careful, kid.  You could put someone's eye out with that thing."

With that, he lunged at the witch, not caring if she was more powerful than him.  In lightening fast movement, Willow jerked her hand up and he saw the dark magic coursing through it before it hit him straight on.  His body twisted in pain as the black magic threw him backwards towards Dawn before he landed hard on the ground, unconscious.

**********

Buffy slowly walked down the stairs, still clutching the stuffed dog as the shock and daze began to wear off and reality set in.  She had to find Dylan; she had to stop Willow from doing whatever it was she was going to do with the Key.  She had to do…something.  Spike was at her side, having been relatively quiet since the revelation about Dawn.  Buffy knew it was a lot to fathom in such a short amount of time, but they didn't have time to deal right then.  No, they had to get Dylan back first.

"Buffy?" she heard Oz ask from ahead of her.

The slayer looked up to see the werewolf standing in her open doorway, that Eric guy standing behind him.  Her old friend looked paler then she could ever remember seeing him, and the sandy blond-haired man behind him had blood smeared on his clothes and face.  "Oz, what happened?"

"That witch killed a friend of mine," Eric bit coldly.

Buffy felt herself draw in a sharp breath and she barely resisted the urge to place her hands over her mouth.  "Willow killed someone?"  

"Not her," Oz corrected.  "The demon did."  

"It was her!"  He narrowed his eyes in on the werewolf and said, "You can fool yourself Oz, but you can't fool me.  She killed Marie, and nothing you say about it being the demon's fault will change that."

Buffy looked down at the toy she held.  Willow killed someone, had taken a life.  Does that mean she would do the same to Dylan?  She couldn't think about that right then. But-"Why would Willow kill her?"

Eric and Oz looked up at the dazed slayer.  The two men exchanged a look before Eric explained, "She was going to do a spell that would have killed the demon, but wouldn't have harmed Willow except for the fact that she wouldn't have her magic anymore."

"It's kind of like taking the bullets out of gun," Oz tried to illustrate.  "You know, no bullets doesn't change the gun, but it just can't hurt anyone anymore."

"Also, the demon can't live in a creature that's not supernatural in some way.  Without her power, it would die," Eric finished.

"So, basically, we bind Red's power and she'll go back to normal?" Spike simplified.  

"Basically, yes," Oz agreed.  "But we need a pretty powerful witch to do this.  I mean, it's not exactly a spell found in 'Beginner Guide to Witchcraft'."

Buffy and Spike looked at one another, both knowing what the other was thinking, before saying together, "Tara."

Blinking, Oz asked, "Willow's girlfriend?"

Spike nodded his head and said, "Yeah.  She might not look like it, but Glenda packs a pretty powerful magical punch.  She can do this spell of yours no problem."

"We better get back to the shop before Willow or that thing realizes that too."  Buffy turned slightly towards the living room and called, "Giles!"

A scurrying sound came from the other room and, moments later, the Watcher appeared.  "Buffy?  Is everything-Oh, dear Lord!  Oz?!"

"Hey, Giles," the boy said, sounding a lot like the old Oz they had known from high school.

Giles looked from him, back to Buffy, before asking, "What's going on?"

"Later.  Right now, we need to get the others up and about.  Will your little Coke trick work on them?"

"It should," he said, nodding his head.

"Coke trick?" Oz asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Good," Buffy went on before turning to her old friend.  "We wake Tara up, she can do your spell, and we'll be good."

"If nothing else, Glenda can do a location spell for us," Spike said.  At Buffy puzzled look, he took the stuffed animal from her hand and held it up.  "She has Dylan.  We find the poppet, we find Red."

"Right," Buffy nodded.

_Looks like they just got themselves a plan.__  May not be a good one, but it was better then nothing, Eric though.  _

"Um, guys," Angel said from the living room, drawing the others' attention to him.  He was looking around, his brow knitted together as he searched for something.  "Where are the kids?"

*********

Dawn tried to stand firm and unafraid as the red head approached her.  _Try and remember this is Willow, she told herself.  __Willow__ wouldn't hurt anyone.  But she had hurt Connor, and she looked like she had enjoyed it.  She had hurt her mother.  She had taken Dylan.  No, this wasn't Willow.  This was…evil._

"Now, Dawnie, I know Buffy taught you better than to go bellowing for the bad guy," Willow mocked, stalking the teenager like she was prey.

"I know what you want," Dawn said, trying to sound brave, but her voice was trembling along with her body.  She swallowed hard before continuing, "I know who the Key is."

The red head's eyes became wide at that as a large grin spread across her face.  "The Key is a person?!"

Dawn shifted on her feet to make herself more sure.  But with Connor lying on the ground unconscious by a simple flick of Willow's wrist, she didn't know how sure she looked.  "Yes."

"Who, Dawnie?" the witch asked in an excited voice.  For a moment, she almost sounded like the old Willow again, instead of this insane one that had taken her place.  "Tell me who, and this will all be over with."

The teen swallowed hard.  "Me."

Willow looked blankly at her for a moment, almost as if the information was refusing to sink in.  She blinked, then said, "You?"

"That's right," the child went on, sounding more sure of herself.  Dawn crossed her arms, and lifted her head slightly like she was standing Buffy down over the TV remote instead of facing crazy Willow.  "I'm Glory's Key."

Willow's eyes narrowed in on Dawn making the woman look more evil then anyone the teenager had ever seen before in her life.  The look made Dawn think about the time Anya had caught her stealing a necklace from the display case.  Dawn had thought she had never seen evil and hatred in such a pure form then the expression on the ex-demons face as the teenager held the piece of stolen merchandise.  Now, looking at Willow, Dawn realized Anya had nothing on her.  The teenager's confidence dissolved quickly and she began to look around for any way to make a quick get away if needed.

"Don't toy with me, Dawn Summers," she said walking forward, which pushed Dawn back.  "I have no time for your childish games."

"It's true," Dawn told her, her voice trembling again with emotion, but not the fright from before.  This time, it was from pain.  Pain of never being told who she really was.  Pain from causing this whole mess.  This was all her fault.  If she was never sent to Buffy, Willow would have never been sent to the Shadow World, Dylan would have never been taken, and Connor wouldn't be hurt now.  It was her fault.

Willow studied the teen for a moment before she decided that Dawn was telling the truth.  The teenager thought that would have made her happy; she was going to get what she wanted.  But, instead, the red head's face became harder, if that were at all possible.

"You?" the witch hissed.  "I died for you?"

"You're not dead, Willow," Dawn dared to point out.

Raising her hand again, Willow threw Dawn across the ground like she had Connor.  The teenager landed with a hard thud, skidding just short of the parking lot pavement.  She scrambled to her feet, but Willow simply kept her hand up, causing the teen to freeze in her tracks.  The teen stood there, unable to move any part of her body, as Willow came to her.

"That's where you're wrong, Dawn," she told her evenly.  "I did die and went to hell.  I went to hell because of you…a whinny, pathetic, useless brat!  Tell me, is that fair?!"

Dawn cast her eyes to the ground.  "No," the girl whispered.

"Is that fair?!" Willow screamed in her face.

"No," Dawn answered in a voice a bit louder than before.

The witch leaned in close to the girl's face and sneered, "Because of you, my life was taken away."  She snorted a laugh as she drew back.  "Once again, a Summers girl is the source of my misery."

Dawn squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight back the tears.  But she could feel them already rolling down her cheeks.

"You have what you wanted," the teen managed.  "Let Dylan go home."

Looking at her as if she had sprung another head, Willow asked, "Now why would I do that?"

Dawn felt her heart sink.  "You said you would!"

Shrugging, Willow turned away from the frozen teenager and went over to the still knocked out Connor.  She kicked him in the side and said, "I lied.  I've gotten pretty good at that lately."

When the boy didn't wake up, Willow smiled, lifted her hand up, raising his body into mid-air.  He hung there like a limp, rag doll, as Willow grinned like a Cheshire cat.  For the fun of it, the witch reached over and pushed lightly on his leg.  His limp body began to spin like a record, much to Willow's amusement.

"You see, Dawnie, the way I see it, she's another Summers girl, which means people are going to get hurt because of her.  I'll be doing the world a favor by getting rid of her now, before she has a chance to cause any harm."

Dawn felt her face pale.  "You're going to kill us, aren't you?"

Willow started to walk back to the girl, Connor's limp form floating behind her like a puppy dog on a leash.  

"Dylan?  Most definitely.  Him?  Probably, but he looks like he'll be fun to play with first.  As for you, Dawn," she leaned in close to her, "I have something very special planned for you."  Willow began to stroke the side of the teen's face gently.  "Tell me, Dawn.  How would you like to go see Glory in hell?"

*********


	10. Where You Learn

_Part 10: Where You Learn_

Buffy sat in the passenger seat of her mother's SUV watching through the dark, rain streaked window as houses and business went by.  It had started to rain again soon after they discovered the kid's disappearance.  The slayer had been frantic at first, along with Angel, insisting that they go out and find them.  Giles had been the one to point out that they did not have time to go in search of the teenagers, not with Willow in her current state of mind.  Reluctantly, both Angel and Buffy had agreed that getting rid of the demon was the top priority at the moment.  Still, she was worried. 

Spike glanced over at her for a moment, then turned the utility vehicle to go down Main Street to Giles' shop.  "Don't worry, love.  Niblet's fine."

"But what if Willow finds her?" she asked quietly. A spark lit behind Buffy's eyes as another thought crossed her mind. "I mean, doesn't Dawn know better then go running off when there's a crazy demon running around?"

"One, she's got the Poof Part Two with her if she does run into trouble," he told her as he pulled into an empty parking space outside the Magic Box.  Killing the engine, he went on, "And two, Red doesn't know that Dawn is this Key, so she won't be lookin' for her."

Buffy sat back in her seat and sighed.  He might have been right, but that still didn't make her feel any better about leaving her sister out there.  

_Damn it, Dawn.  We had enough to deal with without you running off and getting yourself killed_, she thought bitterly as she continued to stare out the window into the dark night.

He frowned while he studied her.  She seemed so lost at the moment, and he felt helpless to do anything.  He didn't know where Dylan and Red where, and Dawn had basically disappeared without a trace.

"I shouldn't have been selfish," she said lowly in the dark.  "I shouldn't have wanted her."

"What?" he asked lost from her line of thought.

"Dylan," Buffy answered quietly.  "If I hadn't been selfish about wanting her, none of this would have happened.  This is all my fault."

"Love, look at me," he told her firmly.  When she refused, he reached over and gently turned her face to see his.  He fought back a deep frown when he saw she was near tears again; he hated seeing her in so much pain.  "This is not your fault."

  


"But if I wouldn't have had Dylan, Willow-"

"Would have found someone else to take to get her Key," he cut her off still using a soft voice, though he had felt an angry pang when she had even suggested that she should have not had their child.  "And it probably would've been Dawn herself."

"But she has our baby, Spike.  Something she knows that we would both do anything to get back," she told him.  "And now Dawn's missing with Connor. And I don't know what to do here.  I can't give Willow the Key, and she won't give Dylan back if I don't."

He sighed as he regarded their dilemma.  Red wouldn't give up Dylan without a fight, even if they did give her Dawn, but Buffy didn't seem to want to believe that.  It was hard for the petite blonde to accept that her one-time best friend had crossed over to the 'dark side,' even if it was with the help of a demon.  No, they both had to realize that this was the demon they were dealing with, not Willow, and, like all good demons, it would double-cross them in a second flat.  But he couldn't tell her this, though he was sure she already knew it in the back of her mind.

"We'll, think of something, pet," Spike chose to say instead.  

Buffy leaned into his hand that was still touching the side of her face.  "Say it for me," she told him.  "Tell me we're going to make it through this."

"We _will_ make it through this, like we always do," he swore.

That made her smile a little, even though she knew it was a lie.

**********

It felt like someone was drowning him, his lungs were tight, as the ice-cold liquid continued to pour down his throat.  A moment of panic passed through him when the memory of what he had done to his father over the summer came rushing back.  Oh, God, what if this was revenge?  What if his penitence for doing that to Angel was for him to suffer the same fate?  It would be an appropriate punishment for dishonoring his real father in such a way.

His world was hazy enough as he came to and found himself being held underwater, a murky face barely visible above him.  Steven gripped at the invisible arms that held him down in vain. This was where he was going to die, he just knew it.

There was a muffled cry of terror – was that Dawn? - but the figure refused to let him up.  Blackness was threatening again as gasps of air started to escape from his painfully tight lung and up to the surface.  He felt his body starting to give up when the invisible hands stopped pushing him down, and lifted him upward out of the water.

  


Steven gasped and coughed at the same time, spitting out the gallon of water he had taken in and trying to give his lungs the air they so desperately wanted.  The action made his head hurt, and his body still ached from what Willow had done to him earlier.  His whole body screamed in agony, but he wouldn't show it.  He was strong, not weak, and he could handle anything this witch could deal out.

"Please, stop," a girl whimpered from nearby.

Steven coughed once more, then lifted his head to see both Dawn and Willow standing at the edge of the swimming pool he had just been emerged in. The witch was using her magic to hold him above the water right then, but he knew it wouldn't be long before he was below the surface again.  She looked as if she was enjoying the pain she was causing him, but Dawn just looked on horrified and helpless from behind.

"Stop?" Willow mocked, slowly turning her head to see the teenage girl out of the corner of her eye.  "Why?  I'm just having some fun until it's time to send you on your way."

"He doesn't deserve this!" the brown-haired girl exclaimed, her body frozen in place.

Willow chuckled lowly to herself before turning her gaze back to the boy that hung above the swimming pool.  She slowly began to pace along its edge, her eyes locked with his as an insane grin played on her lips.  Her boot heels echoed through the large room that had an over powering smell of chlorine from the indoor swimming pool, with the only other sound being his continuous deep breathing.

"Doesn't deserve this," she repeated lowly.  "He doesn't deserve this.  Angel might disagree with that.  What do you say, Connor?  Do you deserve this?"  She pause mid-stride, and said, "Or do you prefer Steven?"

The boy lowered his head, and then lifted it with a hot fire burning behind his eyes.  At that moment, he definitely looked as if he were the son of Angelus.  "I've made mistakes.  I'm trying to pay my penitence for them."

"Pay your penitence?" Willow laughed.  "How?  By helping your father 'help the hopeless?'  That's a laugh."

The invisible arms dropped him again, making him land with a huge splash in the pool.  They then began to push him down again as Dawn's muffled screams filtered through the water.  Willow walked to the edge of the pool and looked down at the boy below.

'At least Angelus had an excuse,' he heard her voice say in his head.  'He didn't have a soul when he did evil.  He didn't _choose_ to be a monster like his own son.'

Steven ground his teeth together as he focused in on the woman over him.  'You mean like you are now?' he thought back, not sure if she heard him or not, but not really caring either.

  


Willow's smile was replaced by a deadly frown before the arms jerked Steven out of the pool and swung him into the wall behind Dawn.  The teenage girl screamed loudly as the boy groaned in pain.  The world was spinning now, and his body wouldn't allow him to push himself up on his own.  The red-headed woman walked over to him, reached down, grabbed him by the throat, and then slammed him against the wall again, causing the already large hole he had made to become even bigger.

His hands vainly wrapped around her arms that held him, while she looked at him with the coldest eyes he had ever seen in his life.  There was no goodness there, no life, no humanity - only death.  Death and darkness.

"No, boy," she hissed at him, tightening her grip on his throat to where she was about to break his neck.  "Thanks to Buffy and Dawn, I _never_ had a choice."

His head was hurting again, the pressure building up from the circulation that she had cut off.  He felt so tired, so tired and weak.  He wanted to stop her, he needed to stop her, but he was so tired.

When darkness started to come again, she released his throat and let his body fall to the ground with a loud thud.  Steven couldn't move; his body refused to even allow his mind to have such a thought.  What it wanted was the one thing he didn't have time for right at the moment.  It wanted rest.

Willow smirked again at the teenage boy that lay at her feet, then turned to girl who had watched the whole act in terror.  

"Well, then.  Guess that means it's time for the real fun to begin, huh, Dawnie."  She walked over to the frozen girl, and pinched her cheek like she was a little child.  "Come on. Let's go see that pretty little niece of yours. Now, I believe you know the way to the principal's office."

**********

The whole store had a silent tension about it as the other members of the Scooby Gang slowly came to thanks to the help of Giles' two hour old, cold coffee.  None of them had particularly enjoyed being forced to drink it, but it had done the trick, and now they had three more Scoobies and one Fang Gang member on the case.

  


Cordelia frowned as she looked around the room at the other members of the group, all of whom looked like this was the worst night of their lives.  Buffy and Spike had trailed in shortly after the seer awoke from her impromptu nap.  They both looked awful, and, from the explanation that Giles had given them about what had happened that night, she could understand why.

Xander had refused to believe it at first, that Willow would do anything to hurt them.  Oz had tried to explain, even had Giles back him up on it and Anya agreed, but Cordy's ex had simply shook his head and kept repeating that it had to be some sort of mistake.  This was no mistake, though.  Cordy could feel that Willow was no longer herself, and this demon or whatever had taken her over completely; it only allowed her to think that they were her own thoughts.  

Oz's friend, Eric, stood over in a corner, his arms crossed and a deep frown embedded on his face.  Cordy hadn't liked him before, with thinking that he was trying to hurt them and all, but now she was really worried about him.  Before, he had no intension of hurting any of them, even if they didn't know that, but he did now.  Even without her visions, Cordy could easily see that if he got to Willow before the rest of them, that spell that Oz was trying to explain wouldn't matter too much.  

Angel was leaning on the counter, only half listening to what was being said among the Scoobies.  He was lost too deep in his own thoughts, worry with whether Connor was alright or not.  They both knew the kid could take good care of himself, he had proven that time and time again, but the not knowing is always a killer.  She would have to remember to yell at the kid when they got home.

"So, you think you can do this?" Oz asked Tara, handing a thick, old book over to her.

The young wicca frowned as she looked at it; blood from the pervious young witch still smeared on the cover.  Ignoring it, Tara opened the book to the marked page, and began to read over what was needed.  "Yeah, I can do it.  I'll just-I'll just need a few things."

"This won't...hurt Willow.  Will it?" Xander asked cautiously, looking from Tara to Giles, back to Tara.

"From what I understand, it won't," Giles reassured.

"Does it really matter?" Eric bit bitterly from his corner.

"Hey man!  That's my friend you're talking about!"

"Who killed mine," he pointed out coldly.

Xander shrunk back painfully as Anya laid a hand on his shoulder.  The poor guy looked as if he were losing Willow all over again.  Of course, Cordelia supposed he sort of was.  Damn the Hellmouth.  Always has to go screwing up people's lives.  That's why she moved to LA, where people screw up their own lives without any demonic help...most of the time.

  


The ex-cheerleader sighed and glanced over to the large table that sat in the middle of the shop.  That little boy of Eric's was sitting there, quietly playing with some of Dylan and Jessie's toys.  They hadn't even bothered to try and wake the infant.  Chances are she would have just made things more difficult at the moment.

Poor kid.  He's had it rough.  To think he had been in the room next door when his aunt was killed.  She shuttered at the thought of him hearing her scream as Willow tortured and then killed her.  Swallowing hard, Cordy walked over to the table and sat down next to the kid.

"Hi," she said with a small smile.  "Whatch'ya doin'?"

The three-year-old glanced up at the strange woman beside him, then went back to the rolling the little ball back and forth on the table.  "Playing ball."

"I can see that," she said, nodding her head.  "So, what's your name again?  Car?  Truck?"

The little boy laughed slightly at the playful teasing.  "Van," he told her.

"I knew it was some kind of vehicle."

He gave a childish giggle, and Cordy laughed softly as well.  Good, then maybe the kid will feel a little better.

Eric had stopped listening to what the others were saying to watch the stranger speak with his son.  She really did seem to have a way with kids, and he was glad she was trying to make Van feel better, but they had more important things to worry about at the moment.

"Van," he said softly, bringing the two's attention to him.  "Stop bothering the nice lady."

"Oh, he's not bothering-"

Cordy took in a sharp breath as the whole room changed from the Magic Box to the swimming pool in the new high school.  She saw Willow standing there, at the edge, looking down into the water as Dawn cried behind her.  Her old friend's face suddenly fell before she jerked her sight to the wall behind her, as the witch pulled a figure out of the water and slammed him into wall.  Cordelia gasped when she saw who the figure that lay crumpled on the ground was.

"Connor?" she said in a weak voice, stumbling out of the chair and trying to move closer to them.

She watched in horror as Willow bent down and lifted the young boy up by the throat and slammed him against the wall again.

"Cordy?" she heard Angel's voice say from beside her.

  


The seer turned from the vision to look at her boss who was now standing at her side.  The others were looking at her strangely, but she didn't care.  The seer turned back to the side of the room where she had seen the vision, only to find that it was now gone and replaced with the back area of the Magic Box.

"Cordy," Angel said to her again.  "Cordy, what did you see?  Where's Connor?"

"She has him," she told him.  Cordelia watched a wave of terror run over his face, but she looked past him to Buffy, which was standing at the counter next to Spike.  "She has Dawn too."

"Oh, God," Buffy said in a low whisper, her face paling before Cordelia's eyes.

"Well, where is she?" Spike demanded.  "Do you know?"

The seer shook her head yes.  "The high school," she told them, choosing to leave out the part that she had been torturing Connor for the moment.  If Angel knew, he would have been more gung-ho about killing her then this Eric guy was at the moment.

"Right then," Spike nodded, heading over to the weapons case.  "Glenda can get to work on the spell while the rest of us try and keep Red busy."

"Me and Eric can't go," Oz informed them quietly.  

As the rest of the group looked at him curiously, Eric exclaimed in hot temper, "Of course we can go!"

"No, we can't," he repeated, slowly shaking his head.  "You said it yourself, Eric.  This demon can survive in supernatural host.  Once Tara's able to bind Willow's magic, it'll be looking for the first supernatural host it can find.  Thanks to our more primal nature, that means me and you."

"What about Spike and Angel?" Anya spoke up.  "Won't they be worse then you two if Willow's demon decides to make one of them its new home?"

"No," Xander said, shaking his head. "They both already have demons in them.  There can only be one demon in a body at a time."

Spike looked at him for a long moment, blinked, then said, "Congratulations, Whelp.  You just added savant to your title."

"He didn't come up with that by himself," Cordy bit out.  "We found that out when Giles' dope demon came to town in high school."

"Guess it's back to bein' just an idiot then, Harris," Spike shrugged before another thought struck him.  "Giles' dope demon?"

"Wait a minute.  If she has Dawn, will it be able to jump into her?" Buffy asked; fear etched on her face.

Giles frowned for a moment, considering the questions as the others, besides Spike, looked on in confusion.  Dawn is human, why would she be worried about the demon being able to jump into her?

"I don't believe so," Giles finally said.  "From what I understand, the Key is pure energy, which means that it's neither good nor bad.  The demon needs the hate just as much as the supernatural to survive and the Key doesn't have this.  Dawn might, but the Key is just energy that's in her.  Think of it like an aura, it's part of what she is, but she's just human."

Buffy slowly nodded her head, as if she understood, but the rest of them were completely lost.  Cordy frowned.  So Dawn was this Key.  No wonder Buffy looks horrible.

"Wait," Xander spoke up finally.  "The Dawnster is the mystical keyie thing?  Um, hello.  Kinda of like to know how that happened?" 

"Later," Buffy told him in her take charge kind of voice.  "Oz, you and Eric can help Tara with the spell.  You too, Giles."

"Me?" the Watcher spoke up, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yeah, you've wielded some pretty heavy mojo in your day, Watcher," Spike agreed.  "Might not be as powerful as Red, but, if Wolf Boy's right, then it'll be more than enough to keep this thing alive."

"I suppose so," he said lowly. 

"I'm staying too," Anya told them.  "Someone has to keep an eye on the kids."

"The rest of you are with me," Buffy said.  "Remember, we don't want to hurt Willow, just keep her busy for a while."

Cordy sighed as the group went about gathering their things.  No, they didn't want to hurt Willow if they didn't have too.  But if what she saw was any indication of her old friend's state of mind, not hurting her didn't look as if it would be an option.

**********


	11. Beneath the Surface

_Part 11: Beneath the Surface_

She felt like a puppet, with Willow pulling the strings.  Her body only moving upon the witch's command.  She had no free will of her own to run even if she wished to do so.  Now she knew how minions felt.

Dawn walked into the principal's office behind the red head, faithfully following her mistress like a puppy on a leash.  _ She couldn't think of this…thing as Willow anymore because she couldn't hate Willow, but she hated this woman with every fiber in her body.  This witch hurt people, and did it with a song in her heart and a smile on her lips.  She was easy to hate, even if she wore one of Dawn's best friend's bodies._

Dawn stopped just a few feet from the door by an invisible barrier as Willow continued on towards the large desk.  The witch flicked her wrist, sending the desk crashing off to the side like it had been a beach ball some kid had decided to kick around.  Dawn flinched from the impact, her mind momentarily wondering back to the wounded Connor downstairs beside the pool.  He was so much stronger than Dawn and Willow took care of him like he had been nothing.  How could the teen ever think that she would be able to do something to save her niece?  She wouldn't even be able to save herself.

Willow's eyes were locked on something that had been behind the desk, and that was when Dawn noticed the play pen with the little child standing inside of it.  The baby's eyes were locked on the red-headed woman that was walking towards her, but the child didn't seem afraid, just curious.

"Dylan?"  Dawn whispered upon seeing her niece alive and well.

The baby looked past the woman before her and finally saw the teenager that had entered with her.  The child's face lit up when she saw that it was her aunt.

"Dawn!" she cried happily, holding out her arms to be picked up by the family member.

The teenager fruitlessly jerked at her body, trying to make it move, but finding that she still had no control over it.  Willow laughed softly.

"Sorry, my little kitten," she told the baby.  "But Auntie Dawn is going to do a little something for me before I even let her think about coming near you."

She reached over to touch the side of Dylan's soft head, but the child drew back as if her hand were on fire.  That just caused Willow to smirk even more.  "Just goes to prove that babies aren't as dumb as people think they are," she snorted before turning away and heading over to a black bag that she had stashed in a corner.

Willow took the bag and went to the center of the room, then began to empty it on the floor.  A large book fell to the ground with a loud bang, and Dawn recognized it as the one that had been responsible for sending Glory and Willow to that awful Shadow World.  The teen felt her stomach drop as Willow picked it up, and began to flip through the pages.

"So many memories," the witch said wistfully.  "So few good ones."

She sighed as she closed the book and put it over on top of the file cabinet.  Willow then walked back over to the items the still laid on the ground, and picked up a much shinier object.  The room's artificial light danced off the blade of the odd dagger as the witch held it up high and close to her face to inspect it.  The menacing looking weapon sent chills down Dawn's spin from the knowledge of what her one-time friend intended to use it for.

"He had such great plans for this weapon.  Did you know that?" Willow said as if Dawn understood what she was talking about.  "He told me that he was going to use this to cut into your tender flesh and give the world a light show like it had never seen before.  He really was a silly, arrogant little puppy.  Only talked about wanting to be with the Beast, so I was more than happy to send him to hell with her.  That was such great fun, Dawnie.  You should have heard the way he screamed."

"Willow, please, if you're somewhere in there, don't do this," the teen begged.

The red head brought the blade away from her face and looked at the young girl strangely before she started to laugh.  

"Oh, Dawnie, you really are good for a laugh."  The witch walked calmly over to the teen, the dagger swinging at her side before she locked her arms behind her back and leaned in close to the Key's face.  "I am Willow, the real Willow.  That other one was a pathetic weakling that I needed to be rid of to embrace my real destiny.  This _is who I am meant to be.  I knew that when I met the other me, the vampire me.  I didn't think so then, but now I know why she loved this so much."  Dawn shuttered slightly as her old friend moved in close to whisper in her ear, rubbing her cheek against the girl's and pressing close.  Willow whispered, "Because hate is so much fun."_

The teenager squeezed her eyes shut trying to hold in the tears that came from both knowing that her friend really was gone, and the fear that was building inside of her.  This caused Willow's mirth to grow as she turned away from the girl and began to play with the knife's sharp edge.

"Now, let's see," she thought aloud.  "Do I want to go ahead and send you to hell, or do I want to kill that little bastard niece of yours first?  Hum?  Which do I choose?  On the one hand, I've been waiting to get rid of the Key since…well, forever.  On the other, it would be kind of fun to make you watch my little kitten being skinned.  What do you say, Dawn?  Want to see me flay the little precious like an animal?"

Willow giggled when Dawn looked like she was going to be sick, making the decision for her.  Yeah, the Key suffering like she did was just what she wanted.

"Flay it-"

A strange, powerful sensation came over her, causing the witch to stop in mid-sentence and look over her shoulder and out the window.  They were coming; she could feel them as they approached.  Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice screamed in relief that she might actually be stopped, but she ignored that and latched onto another voice that was telling her that this might prove to be more interesting than she thought.

Rolling her head lazily back over to Dawn, she said, "Well, looks like there's going to be more of a pre-show than I thought.  But five against one doesn't sound really that fair.  Does it?  Let's just even up those odds, shall we."

The witch's eyes became jet black while she chanted.  Oh, yes.  This was going to be great fun.

**********

Xander and Cordy struggled to keep up with the group of determined parents as they marched towards the newly rebuilt high school.  He noticed the three parents walk in-step with each other, and Xander could almost hear a drill sergeant yelling at him for not keeping formation with them.  Clinching his teeth together a little tighter, he hurried to get in line and unconsciously went to keeping in step with them.  So solider boy still lives after all.

They slowed to a stop in front of the school and looked up at the large building.  It didn't matter what the school looked like in the light of day, seeing one after dark, when all life has deserted it, always gave the building a strange yet fascinating energy.  It was true that he had spent more than his fair share of nights in the old school, researching in the library until dawn some days, or preparing with Buffy for a great battle when the Scoobies themselves were just trying to make it through high school; literally and figuratively.  But he had never been in this school after dark, not even when he was helping in its construction at the beginning of this year.  In all honesty, he had hoped he would never have to step foot on the grounds after dark ever again.  Well, he had hoped to be a multibillionaire by the time he was twenty-one and be dating Kirsten Dunst who would always wear that sexy little cheerleading outfit from '_Bring It On.'  Funny how things never turned out like he hoped._

Buffy, who was standing in the middle of the group, took a deep breath, then said, "Angel, you take Cordy and Xander and check out the south end.  Me and Spike will go check out the north."

"Wait, why do we get to baby-sit Zippo down there?" Cordy asked rather annoyed at the suggestion.

The slayer glared at the seer, having no patience for arguments this night.  "Xander helped build the place, so he knows the layout better than you two.  It just makes more sense for him to go with you."

Angel nodded his head in agreement.  He reached over and touched her arm, earning a glare from Spike which both the older vampire and the slayer ignored.  "Just be careful, okay?"

Buffy gave weary smile.  Maybe their friendship would be salvageable.  "We will," she assured him, before following Spike up the stairs and going inside.

"Hey!" Xander called.  "How do we let them know if we find Willow?"

"Don't worry.  I'm sure they'll be able to follow your manly screams of terror," Cordy said sarcastically before charging up the stairs and heading into the school.  Xander scolded at her as he heard Angel chuckle lightly before heading after Cordelia.  Rolling his eyes, the carpenter did the same.

The three snuck along the dark hallway, cautiously checking each classroom they passed.  So far, everything had turned up empty.  Xander couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing.  It would be good if he didn't have to face off against Willow, but it was a bad thing if she had hurt the kids, or worse.

They reached the end of the corridor, and came to a large pair of doors.  Angel studied it for a moment, then jerked his head over to Xander.  "What's in here?"

"The gym," he answered after confirming it with the mental blue prints in his mind.

Cordy's body tightened at that as she marched over to the door and jerked them open forcefully.  An empty basketball court greeted her. 

"Where's the pool?" she demanded.

"Um, through there and down the stairs," Xander answered, pointing to a door on the other end of the court.

The seer took off across the court, the two men following close behind.  She jerked open the door that lead to the pool below, the overpowering sent of chlorine hitting Xander hard in the face as they raced behind Cordy down the stairs.  With the way their footsteps where echoing up the stairwell, there would be no way they would get the element of surprise if Willow was waiting for them.

Cordelia jogged inside of the large room that held the indoor pool, and let her eyes scan over the eerily still room.  The pool seemed to glow from the lights placed inside, which cast a pale blue shine onto the white walls and pillars.  The room was also chilly from someone having left the large windows at the top of the walls open, letting the night air drop the room temperature about ten degrees.

"Connor?" she said lowly before running over to broken wall where a body laid.

"Connor!" Angel exclaimed, hurrying after her.

The boy groaned lowly from within as the two skidded to a stop next to him, Cordy gathering the boy into her arms as Angel looked him over. The kid was in pretty bad shape from what Xander could see, with a least a broken arm and a concussion from that glassy look in his eyes.  Plus there was the fact that he looked like someone had decided to through his clothes in the washer with him still in them.

"Connor," Cordy said gently while the teenager started to come to.  "Connor, are you okay?"

"What happened?" Angel demanded.

"Willow," he answered lowly.  "She has Dawn.  We got to help her."

Connor tried to lift himself from the floor, only to fall back down with a loud thud.  "Hey, you're out of this," Angel told him, moving to help the boy up. "We need to get him out of here."

Cordy nodded her head in agreement, while Xander went to the kid's side to help his father lift him.   Connor groaned from being touched, and lifted his head to say something to Angel when he saw something behind his father.  "Look out!"

Angel turned just as a large, slimy hand smacked him hard across the face.  The force of the blow sent the Master vampire rolling away from the group.  Cordy and Xander's heads shot up at the move, and they found an ugly, green Swamp Thing look-a-like demon standing over them.  Connor growled as the creature leapt after his father.

"Angel!" Cordy yelled, scrambling to her feet to try and help the vampire, only to have another one of the creatures plow into her and cause them to both go crashing into the pool. 

"Cordelia!" Connor yelled as the young woman and creature disappeared into the deep end of the pool.

Xander wasn't sure what was going through his mind, but what he did know was that he got to his feet, ran to the edge of the swimming pool, and dove in after his ex.  Okay, that just confirms the fact that he has been hanging out with Buffy for way too long.  It was odd, almost like he was watching a movie of himself while the action was going on; not even the bitterly cold water changed that.  Everything about the night had just felt so surreal, and this was no different.

He swam as fast as he could towards the young woman who was floating just above the bottom the pool, her hair flowing out around her like a halo.  Her eyes were closed, and Xander could detect a faint trickle of red coming from a small cut on her forehead.  He had almost reached her when something swam into his side, knocking him hard to the pool's bottom with a heavy weight on top of him.  Though his vision that was blurry from the water, Xander could clearly see it was the demon that had knocked Cordelia into the pool.

The creature bent down close to him, and revealed its razor sharp teeth.   Xander open his mouth to yelp, but ended up taking in a mouth full of pool water which was effectively choking him.  He struggled with the demon, but the creature seemed to be at home in the water.  Swinging his arm as fast as he could, Xander hit the demon across the face, but he knew it could only do minimal damage at best.  The punch, however, did lift the creature up enough to where he could squirm out from under him, and the carpenter started to kick for the surface, his lungs begging for some air.

The demon wrapped its arms around his waist halfway up, and Xander began to kick for all he was worth.  He nailed the creature in the stomach, but it still held on tight; almost as tight as his lungs were filling at the moment.  Xander began to pound the creature in the head the best he could, but the punches were slowed by the water.  He had to get air, he couldn't live without, and that was his only concern at the moment.  The creature loosened its grip a little, and Xander kicked it in the head on his way up, then used it as a springboard to shoot upwards towards the surface.

He gasped desperately for air when his head broke through, and he began to cough up water.  His mind had barely registered that Angel was still trying to battle the other creature, and that the injured Connor was trying to help the best he could, before Xander felt a hand around his ankle and pull him back under.

Xander fought the creature the best he could, but the demon had learned from the last time and chose to hang back, but keep him pulled down until simple biology took over and he would die from suffocation.  The carpenter struggled in the grip as he was pulled farther below towards Cordy's body that still hung suspended in the water.  

A cold realization washed over him as he realized that he was going to die there in that pool.  Well, he always knew he would die in high school.  No, he couldn't die now.  Anya needed him!  Jessie needed him! 

He began to fight even harder, but with the creature so far away from him, there was little he could do.  His lungs were hurting again, and he was vaguely aware that small air bubbles were escaping from his mouth.  The pool was growing darker and his head was hurting so badly.  Oh, God, he was about to die.

He was barely aware that something else had jumped into the pool.  Probably the other demon joining his friend to make sure that the job was done.  Xander's tired body began to still and he would swear that the demon smiled when it saw this.  The Scooby's head dropped as he felt the darkness coming on strong, and then the demon did something strange.  Its grip on his ankle loosened and then completely let go.  The carpenter managed to open his eyes and saw that it had been Angel who had joined them in the pool, and had broken the demon's neck.

A smaller, weaker arm began to drag him to the surface as Angel dove deeper for Cordelia.  When his head broke the surface for the second time, Xander was literally sick with water.  He would have sworn that he coughed up a couple of gallons before the weak arm laid him to rest against concrete side.  Xander continued to cough before he turned his head weakly and saw Connor bobbing beside him, looking a bit stronger than he had a moment before.  Still, the arm Xander thought the kid had broken hung useless at his side and the boy stared down into the water where his father and seer still were. 

The two bobbed there in the water for a moment, waiting for the other two to come up.  Cordy had to have drowned.  He had almost drowned and he hadn't been under as long as she had.  

The vampire broke the surface a moment later, dragging the seer up with him.  She hung loosely in his grip as he swam over to the two at the side of the pool.  Xander managed to push himself up onto the side, helped Connor up, then the two of them dragged Cordelia up with them.  Her lips were blue and Xander had a sudden flash back to his sophomore year with Buffy and the Master.

Temporarily forgetting his own brush with death, he found that she did have a heartbeat, though a faint one, but what she needed was air.  Xander went to work.  He pinched her nose before blowing his precious oxygen into her water-filled lungs.  When he had done this several times, and she had not started to breath on her own, he mumbled, "Come on, Cordy.  You have to breathe if you're going to yell at us for not saving you sooner."

Angel was kneeling at her other side, holding her hand in his as Connor stood over the group, watching in an odd fascination at what the dark-haired man was doing to his friend.  

"Cordy, you have to wake up," Angel told her, as if that would make her do it.  "You can't die on me now.  I won't let you."

Xander blew into her mouth again and felt her body tense under him.  That awful gurgling sound he had made himself a few minutes ago rose from throat before she began to spit out water.  Xander moved away to allow her room to get rid of the liquid, but Angel leaned in closer as she coughed.

"Cordelia?" he said.

"Angel?" the seer said as she rolled her head towards the vampire, and blinked in confusion. "Did we win?"

Angel smiled; Xander winced.  Since when did he smile like that?  Angel pulled Cordy close and kissed her.  Connor smiled at the action, but Xander felt his face scrunch up.

"Oh, man.  I didn't want to see you macking on Buffy in high school, and I really don't want to see you macking on my ex-girlfriend!"

Cordy broke the kiss and turned to her old flame.  "Emphasis on the _ex part, Xander."_

"Are we going to have to worry about him going all Angelus on us?" he demanded, crossing his arms.

She turned back Angel, who just smiled and shrugged. "Maybe," she grinned, knowing full well that neither one of them would let that happen, but it was fun to watch Xander sweat.

"Oh, this just great," the young man said; throwing his arms in the air before he stood up and looked up at the ceiling.  "Could my night get any better?"

"Um, guys," Connor broke in, looking at the emergency exit door that was now opened.  The rest of the group turned to see what he was looking at and found several different demons were standing there, ready for a fight.

Cordy and Angel scrambled to their feet before the group took off for the door they had come in through.  "It was a rhetorical question!" Xander exclaimed, cursing himself for jinxing them like that as the demons began to chase them.

The group charged up the stairs and back into the gym, slamming the metal door behind them as they exited.  Angel leaned against the door while the others went in search of something to barricade the door that was threatening to open at any second.  The other three found the crate that held the basketballs nearby and began to push it towards Angel.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?!" Cordy spat at him angrily as they placed the bin in front of the door.  "God, you really are Zippo!"

"Hey, you better be glad this Zippo came along with you or you'd be annoying the hell out of some angel instead of us!" He bit back as they started to the main entrance once they were satisfied that the crate would hold back the demons for the time being.

Angel rolled his eyes.  It was like being with two small children who didn't like each other.  He might love Cordy, but this really was getting on his nerves. "Guys, would you please just-"

The group froze when they walked into the main entrance where they had split up with Buffy and Spike and found that more demons were making their way towards the school.  What?  Did someone ring the dinner bell or something?  Calling all demons, we have an injured miracle child of two vamps, a seer who almost drown, a carpenter who almost drown, and a vampire who saved them from the frying pan only to lead them into the fire.  

Connor fell back into a fighting stance along with his father, and both Cordy and Xander instinctively lifted their fists.  Yeah, this was going to be fun.

**********


	12. The Light

_Part 12: The Light_

Oz watched as Tara and Giles prepare for the spell, and his mind momentarily wondered back to poor Marie.  This was what she had been doing moments before Willow came.  This had been what the witch was doing before the red-head killed her.  His heart dropped at the thought of the young women.  Marie might have died physically, but he knew that once Willow was Willow again, she would die from the knowledge of what she had done.  

"I think that's everything," Tara said softly, looking around at the changed surroundings.  

Giles nodded his head in agreement as he looked down at the circle they had drawn on the floor with the black pot that rested in the middle.  He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before handing her the ingredients, which included some of Willow's hair that they had found in Tara's brush in her purse.  

Anya was watching from the counter she was leaning on, and Oz could already see her trying to think up a way to clean up that circle on the ground before they opened on Monday.

Van was still at the table, but his head was down on his crossed arms and he had eventually drifted off to sleep.  The ball that he had been playing with earlier that evening was resting gently beside his feet as the boy slept. Though he had wanted his own toys earlier, he had pretty much claimed the ball as his own.  Oz couldn't help but wonder if Buffy or Anya would be able to tear their child's toy away from the kid.

"Are you sure you'll be able to do this?" Giles asked as Tara stepped into the circle, sat down, and he handed her the book Marie had been using earlier.

"I'll do it," she said with a strange confidence for Tara.  "For Willow."

"Besides, if you can't bind her magic, I'm sure Buffy and the others will be able to destroy her before she does any real damage," Anya offered, which earned her a glare from Giles.  "What?"

Oz shook his head and looked around the store once more.  That was funny, he didn't see Eric anywhere.  The werewolf walked over to the back entrance, and glanced into the training room as Tara and Giles began to mix the ingredients.  He wasn't there either.

Growing more worried by the moment as to where his friend could have gone, Oz went over to the sleeping boy, and gently shook his shoulder.  Van drew in a deep breath as his sleepy eyes opened and looked at the young man before him.

"Hey, Van.  Where's your dad?"

The boy's eyes fell closed again while he made a showing of shrugging his shoulders before he made himself more comfortable.  "Don't know," the boy mumbled into his arms.  "Told me to give you this."

The kid sat up a little, and produced a folded piece of paper that he had been hiding under his arms.  Oz took it and the kid was asleep before he had a chance to even open it.  He frowned when he saw what it said.

_Oz,_

_Take care of Van for me._

_Eric_

The werewolf crumpled the piece of paper in his hand, knowing full well that his friend indeed had gone off after Buffy and the others.  As Tara prepared to read from the book, Oz thought to himself, _Damn__ it, Eric.  I hope you know what you're doing._

**********

Buffy and Spike crept along the hallway towards the new principal's office.  Spike had made a good point about how, if Willow was holed up in the school, she'd probably want to be near the Hellmouth.  No place closer than the room that was built directly over it.  This all had been way too easy so far.  She hadn't set any traps for them or tried to stop them in anyway.  It was almost as if she wanted them to come.  That scared Buffy more than anything.  Traps she could handle, direct invitations meant that Willow wasn't worried about them being able to stop her.

The two stood on either side of the door, silently waiting for the other to give the singal to go.  This was why she always liked working with Spike.  He could just look at her and know what had to be done.  Their priorities were Dawn and Dylan and keeping them safe until Tara could do the spell.  They didn't want to hurt Willow, but, if it came down to her or their family, they would.

Buffy paused at the thought.  Since when had it become their family?  As in belonging to both of them together.  Yeah, Dylan was theirs, she understood that, but she had included Dawn in that last thought.  Did that mean that he had become a member of her family?

_Who are you kidding, Buffy?  He's been a member of the family since before Dylan was born, she thought._

He smiled at her wearily, silently reassuring her that it was going to be alright. There was no mistaking the concern and love in those eyes.  When this was over, they really were going to have a very long talk.

She sighed deeply, looked towards the door, then nodded her head.  He copied her movement, reached for the door, and the two walked in ready for a fight.

The room was rather dark, even with the artificial overhead light, but Buffy could make out the broken desk off to the side.  The oak furniture had been basically broken in half with sharp ends sticking out, waiting like long knives that wished to stab anyone unfortunate enough wonder to close.  She would have to remember to keep Spike away from that side of the room.

But a small movement from the middle of the floor was what drew Buffy's attention.  Sitting there quietly was Dylan, smiling at her parents as if they had just showed up to pick her up from Giles' apartment or Xander and Anya's, instead of saving her from mortal danger.

"Daddy! Swayer!" she smiled happily, holding her arms out for them.

Buffy rushed forward to her daughter, only to be thrown back hard by some sort of barrier.  She hit the ground hard and slid back a few feet to Spike, who bent down to help her.

"You alright, love?" he asked, helping her up, all the while scanning the room.

Before she could answer, a small voice whimpered, "Buffy."

The slayer and vampire turned and saw Dawn standing off in a dark corner, her body stiff as tears rolled down her cheeks.  "I'm sorry," the teenager said.  "I thought if she got what she wanted, then she would let Dylan go.  I didn't mean to make things worse."

"Funny how people who never mean to make things worse always manage too," another woman's voice answered from their other side.  

Buffy jerked her head over and watched as Willow shimmered – yeah, that's a good word for it – in from the shadows.  A childish, insane grin played on her lips as she looked at the parents before her.  Buffy heard Spike growl lowly as his body tensed; that was when she noticed the rather large dagger that her friend was holding in her crossed arms.

"Now, come, come, Spikey," Willow laughed.  "Is that anyway to greet an old friend?"

"No," he bit back, Buffy feeling his body coil up like a cat does before it pounces on its prey.  "But you're no friend of mine. Are you, Red?"

"Oh, looks and a brain," Willow said, jerking her eyebrows up before turning to Buffy.  "Look's like you got a smart one this time."

Spike leapt at the red head.  Buffy watched as the witch's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, then jerked her arm around like she was swatting away a pesky fly.  Spike was knocked off course by the motion, and sent crashing into an opposite wall.  The slayer jumped to her feet while her friend was temporarily distracted, but Willow just jerked her head towards her old friend.  It felt like someone had knocked her in the head with a sledgehammer and sent the blonde flying back.  Buffy landed with a hard thud back on the ground, and slid across the floor until she hit the bookcase set up beside the door.

An evil grin grew on the witch's face as she slowly started to walk towards a dazed Buffy.  The slayer blinked several times, trying to clear her slightly blurred vision.  Willow bent down in front of her old friend, and said, "Now you want to see what I can really do?"

Willow spread her hands wide and a black fog engulfed Buffy, an electrical current causing her whole body to tense in pain.  When Buffy refused to scream, the witch increased the voltage, knowing if it went up much more it would kill her.

A cold growl was let out, distracting the witch from what she was doing for a moment.  Spike was coming after her again, but Willow rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Down, boy," Willow said.  The witch once again swung her free hand, and sent him sailing directly at the sharp ends of the desk before he crashed into it.

"NO!!"

**********

Tara sat in the middle of the circle, concentrating on the picture of Willow in her mind.  She was helping her, that's all.  She was trying to take Willow's magic for good reason.  Willow would understand once she got back to normal.

Giles held the book open, and she began to read from it and do as it said.

"Child of light, cannot be dead.

The darkness within, has been fed."

*********

Buffy looked in horror as he hung there mid-air, her own pain temporally forgotten, as the sharp end of the desk began to dig into his skin.  Spike's face contorted in pain as he groaned lowly.  The slayer tried to get to her feet to help him, but found that some invisible force held her in place.  She couldn't even move her arms that rested on the ground.  It felt like she was glued there.

Willow grinned as she stood, forgetting about the slayer in favor of her new toy.  She walked across the room slowly, switching the dagger from hand to hand until she reached him.  He was leaning forward on the desk.  If he took in a breath, he would be dust.  She bent down low to his face, and studied him for a moment.

"Does it hurt?" Willow asked like a small child.  "I bet it does."

"Go to hell," he bit at her coldly through his teeth.

"Been there, done that, looks a lot like Jersey," she said.  "But maybe you'll like it better than me."

"NO!" Dawn screamed as Willow moved her hand over to his back to push him down.  

Buffy struggled for all she was worth, but whatever Willow had done to her was holding fast.  Her eyes were wet as she looked up and found that he was looking back at her with apologetic eyes.  She couldn't lose him!  Not now!  Not when she finally realized that she-

Buffy felt something move past her, brushing her slightly while it leapt through the air with a loud growl.  Willow turned at the sound, temporarily forgetting about Spike and what she was about to do, when the thing rammed into her and knocked her to the ground.

**********

Tara crumpled up the maple root and let it fall into the pot.

"Her spirit is strong, her flesh is weak.

A demon control, through her it does speak."

*********

Buffy watched as Willow and the half transformed werewolf struggled on the ground; the sandy blond on top of the witch, snapping at her viciously.  The red-heads eyes became jet black as she fought with him, and a build up of energy exploded around her, sending him flying in the opposite direction of her.  He crashed hard into the wall, breaking it upon impact.

Willow pushed herself up, wiped the side of her mouth that had a thin trickle of blood running down it, and locked her insane eyes on the panting creature. 

"Oh, another puppy to play with," she laughed, bringing the dagger up and slowly walking towards him.

*********

Tara held up the few red hairs they had gathered and looked at them for a long moment.  This was it, the moment of truth.  _Willow, please forgive me for what I am about to do, but you're more then your magic, Tara thought. She just hoped Willow realized that._

"Bind her magic, so she may do no harm,

So that the demon cannot be armed."

She dropped the hair into the pot, and the room exploded with a blinding white light.

*********

Willow was halfway to her destination when Buffy saw her stop dead in her tracks with a jerk.  Her eyes were wide as if in pain, and she dropped the dagger to grab her head.

"No," Willow said lowly, stumbling backwards.  "No!  Not now!!"

A white light began to build around Buffy's friend, very dim at first, but soon it was almost blinding.  The slayer pulled at her arms to try and cover her eyes, but the magic held, so she squeezed her eyes into thin slits when it became over-powering.  She could barely make out the figure that was standing in the middle of the room, near Buffy's strangely quiet daughter, as Willow turned her head up towards the sky and began to scream an ungodly scream.

The light seemed to stop for a split second before exploding like a firework and spreading throughout the whole school.  For all Buffy knew, it could have been through all of Sunnydale.

The slayer shut her eyes tight for a moment, but opened them just enough to watch as Willow's body began to spasm before an entire separate entity was pulled forward from her.  The ugly beast continued to scream as Willow began to quiet, before the creature was engulfed in the white light.  A second later, the light was gone, its only memory the spots that where before Buffy's eyes.

She watched as Willow gave out a sigh, then slumped to her knees and fell forward completely unconscious.

**********

Xander brought his arm away from his face as the light died and blinked several times to get his sight back.  The others were doing the same while the carpenter tried to decided exactly what happened.  He glanced towards the entrance where all the demons were coming, and felt his face jerk in surprise when he saw that they were all gone.  There was nothing out there except the cloudy sky that was starting to welcome sunrise.

"Okay, now that was just cool."

**********

Tara slumped backward from the circle, giving out a deep sigh of exhaustion.  Giles dropped the book he had been holding for her to read, and went to her side, cradling the weakened girl.  That spell had taken a lot out of her.  Hell, it had taken a lot out of him and he hadn't even done it.  He couldn't imagine what it must be doing to her.

Anya and Oz walked over to the two, concern on their faces as Oz bent down next to her.

"So, you think it worked?" Anya asked.

*********

The first thing Dawn was aware of once the light was gone was that Willow was lying on the ground.  The second thing she realized was that she could move again.  True, it was stiff movements, like when she had ridden to long in the car, but she could move nonetheless.

Buffy pushed herself up off the ground as Dawn ran across the room and scooped her niece up into her arms.  The two women quickly checked the child over, and were pleasantly surprised to find her unharmed.  Buffy let out a sigh of relief, before giving her sister a quick once over.  Dawn too was unharmed for the most part.

Spike groaned loudly as the invisible force that held him against the broken desk let go and allowed him to fall away from it.  He landed hard on the ground, and Dawn watched her sister hurry to his side.  The baby clung to her aunt as she slowly approached the couple.

"You okay?" Buffy asked gently touching the wound on his chest.

"Nothin' a few pints of the 'red stuff' won't cure," he told her with a weak smile, that she returned.  He rolled his head slightly, and looked up at Dawn.  "What about the poppet?  She alright?"

"Yeah," Dawn said, swaying with the little girl.  "She's…sleeping?"

The parents exchanged a confused look before getting up off the ground and inspecting the child for themselves.  As her aunt had said, the eleven-month-old was fast asleep in her arms, her little fist near her mouth that was hanging slightly open.  Buffy smiled sweetly at the little girl, touched the side of her head, and then placed a small kiss on her forehead.  

"So, can we go home now?" the teenager asked wearily.

Buffy smiled and nodded her head.  "Yeah.  Demon gone, you and Dylan are safe.  I say we get the others to help with Willow and Eric and get-"

"Wait," Spike spoke up.  He moved between Buffy and Dawn, and began to study the slayer.

"Spike, what are you doing?" Buffy asked.

"Wolf Boy said that thing will jump into a supernatural host, right?"

"Yeah," she answered, still not following his line of thought.

"Well, slayers aren't exactly normal, now are they, love?" he asked.

Her eyes widened at the suggestion.  "You think it could be in me?!"

"I don't think it just disappeared."

"Spike, you idiot.  I would never hurt Dylan or Dawn!"

"No, I don't think you would.  But you wouldn't know if you were infected," he pointed out.

"I'm not!" she bit back.

"How do you know, pet?"

"Because I do!"

Dawn pulled Dylan closer to her as the parents continued to argue.  There was a demon that could jump into a different host?  That wasn't good.  And if it did jump into Buffy, that would be even worse. 

"Just want to be sure the poppet's safe here, slayer," he told her.

"She is! It's gone!"

"Buffy-"

A blood curdling scream rang through the room and Dawn turned just in time to see the werewolf charging at her and Dylan, the knife that Willow had planned on using in hand.  Dawn screamed as the knife cut through the air, and pierced through soft skin.

**********

Buffy didn't think, she reacted.  She saw Eric coming after her baby and her sister, and she moved.  That simple step would change everything - she knew that - but she had to protect them.  They were hers, and she wouldn't let them be harmed.

Her body moved in front of the other two just as Eric prepared to slam it into Dawn's stomach.  Buffy's face jerked from the sharp pain that came with the impact, and the two beings stood there looking at one another, connected by the weapon in his hand and in her stomach.

Eric smiled a toothy grin at her, his eyes yellow from halfway being changed, and his blond hair covering more then half his face.  "You might have saved the angel from this fate, but you sealed yours," he told her lowly, a glint of insanity behind his eyes; the same insanity that Willow had possessed moments before.  Looks like Oz had been right about that demon.

Buffy heard a roar and then watched as Spike wrapped his hands around Eric's head and popped his neck, killing both the demon and the man.  As the werewolf's body fell to the ground, the knife slipped out of her stomach, and Buffy was quick to cover the wound.  She looked up and saw Spike growl once more at the body at his feet, then look up at her, his eyes wide when he saw what had been done to her.  She managed to shake her head to not alarm Dawn who she had her back to.

"Dawn," she pushed, barely turning her head back to her sister.  "Get Dylan out of here."

"Buffy?  Are you okay?" Dawn asked, moving closer to her sister.

The slayer forced a smile and nodded her head.  "Yeah, I'm fine," she lied.  "Now, please, get Dylan out of here."

Dawn didn't believe her, she could feel she didn't.  The teenager looked to Spike, but the vampire simply agreed with her sister.  "Please, Niblet.  We'll take care of Red."

The young girl bit down onto her lip, not liking that they were obviously hiding something from her, but turned and left like she was asked.  Buffy was barely managing to stand by the time the door shut, and she slumped to the ground in pain.  Spike went down with her, holding her to him as he sat on the ground and kept her elevated slightly on his bent up knees.

He reached down and gently pushed her hand away to survey the injury.  She watched as his eyes grew wide and scared, but he tried to mask it when he looked at her again when she yawned.  She was so tired.

"Hey, come on, Slayer," Spike said nervously as she lay there, all anger gone from the argument they were having just moments before.  "Can't let you get too comfortable here.  Got to get back to the others and all."

She smiled weakly at him, her own hostility forgotten.  "That good, huh?"

He laughed, but it didn't reach his frightened eyes, as he shook his head.  "Na, just a scratch.  You'll be up and about, threatenin' to kick my sorry ass before you know it."

Buffy laughed softly at him.  "Don't lie to me, Spike," she warned.  "You're not any good at it anymore."

It was funny, the wound suddenly didn't hurt so bad anymore.  In fact, she didn't feel it at all.  Something in the back of her mind screamed that this was a bad thing, but it didn't feel like it.  It felt…right, like this was how it was supposed to work out.  She had saved her daughter and her sister, but it was going to cost her.  Strange thing was, she didn't mind.  Still, there were things to be taken care of.

"Spike, do you remember your promise?" she asked him, her voice sounding soft even to her.  He blinked, and she could clearly see how shiny his eyes were.  "Keep her safe.  Raise her right."

"We'll raise her right," he told her firmly.

Buffy shook her head.  "No, but you will."

She felt her strength leaving her.  It wouldn't be long now.  She was actually looking forward to it.

He pulled her a little closer to him, and pressed his forehead against hers.  "I love you," he said, as if that simple statement would make her stay.

It was getting darker fast, and she felt as weak as she ever had.  Still, a small smile crossed her face and she managed to push herself up and kiss him lightly.

"I love you," she told him in a hushed voice before falling into that eternal slumber she had always dreamed of, leaving him there to cry for her.

**********

AN: Okay, going to tell you know, this is _not_ the end of the series, so don't be too upset with me.  More to come soon, I promise.


	13. Tuesday

_Part 13:  Tuesday_

Lindsey sat back in the chair in the waiting room.  What was taking them so long?  Surely they would know something by now.

Across from her, Mrs. Travers sat with Mr. Jefferson on one side of her and Mr. Blare on the other.  The old woman looked more annoyed then concerned about her husband's current condition as the two Watchers assured her that everything would be alright.  If Lindsey were to guess, the woman was probably more concerned about being pulled from her weekly bridge game and what the girls would say when she returned, than what the doctor would tell her about her husband's condition.

Lindsey had been the one to find him.  She heard him shouting, then that awful crashing sound as he fell to the ground.  By the time she made it into his office, he was already convulsing, and she had called for an ambulance right away.  From what the paramedics told her, it sounded as if he had had a stroke, a massive one.  That was very peculiar.  Mr. Travers was always in such good health for his age.  For him to just have a stroke like this was just plan…odd.

"Mrs. Travers?" an older doctor said, coming into the waiting room.

The old crone got to her feet, along with Lindsey and the Watchers as the doctor approached them.  He had a grim look on his face as he held tightly onto a clip board and pulled off his glasses.

A moment of panic washed over the woman's eyes.  Probably worried that she would lose her social standing if something should happen to Quentin.

"Your husband has suffered a severe stoke to the brain-stem.  It was touch and go there for awhile, but I am glad to inform you that he has stabilized.  However, the attack was so brutal, that I am afraid he will need extensive physical and speech therapy, but he should fully recover in time."

"Will he be able to return to work?" the woman asked.

Lindsey frowned.  Yeah, she had a lot of concern for him.

The doctor shook his head.  "With the severity of the attack, and his age, that doesn't look like a possibility."

The secretary sighed deeply.  So much for her job at the Council.

**********

They buried her on a Tuesday, a week before Dylan's first birthday.  Like the day she had died, the sky was gray and thick with clouds and rained on the group that stood around and listened to the preacher give those final passing words for the dead.  He hadn't known her, and spoke of her only in that generic way some preachers do when they are called to do a stranger's funeral.  They were pretty words, ones he had probably practiced a lot in his time in Sunnydale; too many times in fact.

Giles and Joyce had been tucked under one black umbrella, Dylan resting comfortably in her grandmother's arms.  The baby didn't understand why all the grown-ups were so sad, but she did her best to comfort the older woman by holding tightly onto her.

Dawn and Connor had occupied another umbrella. Connor had held it between them with his good arm as Dawn cried beside him.  He hadn't known her that well, but he had liked Buffy well enough.  He wished he could shed tears for her, but it's hard to mourn for someone you don't know.  He thought he would have really liked her had he been given the chance.

Cordy and Angel were next to the kids.  Cordelia had her arms snaked around the older vampire's waist, trying to offer her comfort to him while trying to get some from him at the same time.  He hadn't been in love with Buffy any longer when they had arrived; his heart now belonged to woman at his side.  Still, this was painful.  One of the most painful things that he had ever had to do.

Xander and Anya had clung onto one another.  They had left Jessie with a babysitter that day, but they wished she would have come.  It wasn't that they felt she would have understood any better then Dylan what was happening, but they needed her.  They needed to hold her, and make sure that everything was alright.

Oz and Tara stood on either side of Willow, who had been out of it ever since she woke up.  Oz had been true to his word, she hadn't remembered anything that had happened, but she had demanded to know.  The ugly truth wasn't something easy to handle, and she hadn't.  The poor witch had hardly said two words since the revelation of her actions while she was under the demon's power.

Oz was going to do what Eric had asked him; he was going to take care of Van.  The boy was going to need someone who would be able to help him with his 'little problem'.  Oz was qualified for that.  He would make sure that the kid would be alright.

Spike had stood off by himself during the service, watching numbly as she was lowered below while he stood in the pouring rain.  He had been the only one who hadn't used an umbrella, and thus had gotten thoroughly soaked, but no one said anything.

They were back at Joyce's now, the few that had said goodbye to their friend.  News of her death had become a closely guarded secret for the time being until they could decide exactly what to do.  It wouldn't be long until word got out among the beasties that the Slayer was dead again and the Hellmouth was once more left unguarded. Prehaps they could get that Faith girl to come back and stay until they got things in order. 

Spike sighed as he leaned against the railing on the back porch.  She loved him.  She had actually told him she loved him.  He thought he would have never heard her say such a thing, but she had.  And instead of celebrating, he had to put her in the ground?!  It wasn't bloody fair!!

His face morphed as an animalistic growl escaped from deep with his throat.  He grabbed the first thing he could reach, which happened to be one of Joyce's plants, and smashed it against the wall.  It did little to help his anger, though.

"Never liked that plant anyway."

Spike spun towards the door and found the middle-age blonde standing there, a cup of something steaming liquid clasped in her hands.  She looked old – never thought of describing the feisty woman that way – and the cuts and bruises on her face did nothing to help.  

"Sorry," he said morphing back to his human face, a bit ashamed of her catching him like that.

"Don't be," Joyce said coming over to stand by him.  "Like I said, never liked that plant anyway."

She gave him a smile, but her eyes told him that she felt very much the same as him.  Her daughter had been taken away from her for a second time in as many years.  Only this time, there was no way she could come back.

"How do you do it?" he asked quietly.  "How do you keep from just breakin' down?"

"You're a hundred and twenty-year-old vampire and you're asking me how to get over death?" she smiled.  When she saw he found no humor in the statement, she sighed.

"Spike…William, this is the second time I have had to grieve for my daughter.  After the first time, I was a complete mess.  I don't think that I got out of bed for a week after the funeral.  But I had Dawn, and I knew she needed me to take care of her and protect her, just like Buffy would have wanted.  I knew that those monks had created her, had just made up my memories of finding out I was pregnant with her, carrying her, giving birth to her, watching her first steps, her first words – which, by the way, was brownie."  He chuckled, and so did she.  She went on, "Her first day of school, her first crush, when she and I both found out about Buffy being the slayer."

"Remember that," he said.  "Niblet didn't buy the whole band thing for minute."

"Neither one of us did," Joyce informed him.  "I love my daughter, but musically talented she is not."  A loud pause passed between them as something silently corrected her with 'was'.  After a moment, she continued on softly, "The point is Buffy had given me something to help me go on.  She gave me another daughter.  I would have never made it without Dawn.  And she left someone else who's going to need us."

"Dylan," he supplied.

Joyce gave a small nod of agreement.  "I'm her grandmother, and I love her more than life itself; but you're her father, she needs you to take care of her since Buffy can't.  You know that."

He didn't say anything, but they both knew she was right.  Dylan did need him because she surely didn't understand what was going on.  Speaking of the little one…

"Where is the poppet anyway?"

She gave him a weary smile. "Dawn put her down for her nap a little while ago.  I guess I should go get her, she's probably up and hungry by now."

"No," he said, pushing away from the railing.  "I'll get her."

Spike moved quietly through the house that was still filled with Scoobies, most of which that had gathered in the living room and where softly speaking to one another.  None of them noticed him, save the vampire that was leaning against the wall next to the foyer entrance.  

"Will," Angel said in a small voice that would have been missed by anyone who didn't have enhanced hearing.

Spike paused at his the use of his real name.  Blue eyes met brown in an intense stare that most would have mistaken for an open show of hostility towards one another.  It was a knowing look, telling Spike that Angel somehow knew everything.  Not that it was an easy thing to miss, though most of the Scoobies had turned a blind eye towards it.  Spike didn't know if the Poof knew that Buffy had loved him back, but frankly he didn't care.  He knew; that was enough for him.

"Angelus," he answered before continuing on up the stairs.

Her bedroom door slid open quietly, the only sound being the slight scraping against the carpet.  A filtered light bled in through the window as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.  He glanced towards the crib, but the child inside was still laying on her back, sleeping that peaceful slumber that only innocent children enjoy. 

With a sigh, Spike turned his attention back to the room.  Everything was still just as she had left it, down to the book that was resting peacefully on the bed.  He walked over and took it from the spot she had laid it, and found that she had been reading _Wuthering__Heights.  Now that he thought about it, he did remember her saying something about her having to read it for school.  A Two of Hearts stuck out the top of the paper back copy, marking the place where she had stopped the night before…marking the place where she stopped.  Sighing, he tossed the book back on the comforter and watched as it bounced softly once before coming to a peaceful rest. _

"Daddy," a small voice said, drawing his attention upward from the book.  

Dylan was standing up in her crib, looking at him strangely, like he didn't belong there.  Guess it did seem strange to her, since the only time he ever came up there was with Buffy to put Dylan to bed.

"Hey, pip," he said, walking over to the crib and scooping her up into his arms.

The little girl snuggled in close to him, tucking her head under his chin.  He smiled, unconsciously falling into a rocking motion.

"Want Mommy," she declared, causing him to stop dead cold.  Dylan finally called her Mommy, and she wasn't there to hear it.

Spike moved his head and placed a soft kiss on the child's forehead.  "I know, baby," he told her.  "I want her here too."

**********

The End of Part Two

**********

AN: Okay, the next in the series, called 'Again', probably won't come out until after Thanksgiving. I know, it seems like a long time, but I need to take a little break.  Also, I want to thank everyone who reviews (I got over a hundred for this story *happy dance*)  I love hearing from you guys and I thank you for taking the time to review.  Well, have a great holiday!


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